A review committee consisting of five eminent people from the industry and academia will be formed by the Chairman of the Council of IITs for the purpose
New Delhi: The Council of IITs has decided that the peer review of each of the IITs would be carried out once in every five years by a five-member review committee.
The council decided that the review committee would consist of five eminent people from the industry and academia who would be selected by the Chairman of the Council of IITs.
It was decided at the 46th meeting of the Council of IITs here. The meeting, chaired by Minister of State for HRD MM Pallam Raju, was attended by the Chairman of Board of Governors and the Directors of all the 16 IITs.
Both the quality and quantity of faculty are keys to improving the standards of technical education in the country, Raju said at the meeting here.
The process, results, and the follow-up on the review would be uploaded on the institute’s/council’s website as a mechanism to foster a culture of transparency and accountability.
The meeting also discussed revision of fee for UG students, boost to PhD programmes, joint IIT-NIT Trainee Teacher Scheme, and Green Initiatives.
In the meeting, the Council of IITs also approved the recommendation of the Group of Directors of IITs and Empowered Task Force for the revision of fee for UG students from the existing Rs 50,000 to Rs 90,000 per annum from the year 2013.
The revised rates will, however, be applicable for the new entrants to the UG programmes and the fee may be revised periodically. Members of the Council of IITs stressed that easy loan facility is available to students and no student, who has qualified the JEE, is denied entry into IITs due to financial constraints.
With a view to increase the number of PhDs from 3,000 at present to 10,000 by 2020, the Council of IITs approved the recommendation of the Empowered Task Force headed by Dr Anil Kakodkarfor.
The recommendation, “Strengthening the PhD Programme in the IITs”, provides for relaxed conditions for enrolment into PhD programme in the IITs. Admission would be given without GATE score to students with a CGPA of more than 7.0 at the end of the third year, but GATE score would be required for scholarship.
Apart from this, another PhD programme for those working in the industry and the teachers in engineering colleges will also be introduced in all the IITs wherein the course requirement would be fulfilled through courses to be delivered remotely using the National Knowledge Network (NKN).
The council also approved the Trainee Teacher Award NIT/IIT Joint Scheme with the objective to enhance the quality of teaching and to address the issue of faculty shortage.
At the meeting, it was also decided that each IIT would establish a green office which would carry out a Green Audit and ensure the inclusion of topics/courses related to green technology in the curriculum.
