481 - 500 IIT-M students yet to be placed, 2nd phase of placements on

500 IIT-M students yet to be placed, 2nd phase of placements on

CHENNAI: IIT-Madras, which had a good run in the initial phase of the campus placements this year, has a tough task ahead. With more than 500 students yet to be placed in various departments, the institute's placement office expects only around 16 companies to visit in the second phase of the campus season.

Around 60% of the 1,263 students were placed in the first phase. As many as 210 companies visited the campus between December 1 and December 22, 2012, and made 844 offers to 750 students. Seventeen students received more than one offer.

This year IIT-Madras students were offered among the highest pay packages in the country. Samsung Electronics offered six students US$1.5 million. Four of the students took up the offer, while computer science graduates Sujeet Gholap and Nitin Motiani decided to take up positions at Google and Goldman Sachs.

On Wednesday, the first day of the second phase of the campus placement season, at least three students were offered jobs. Students and faculty expect the second phase to be slower than the first. "Hereafter, only one or two interviews will be scheduled because classes have begun for the students," said B Nagarajan, deputy registrar of placements at IIT-Madras. In the beginning of the placement season in December 2012 as many as 12 companies visited the campus.

Among companies visiting the campus in the second phase are Honeywell and DRDO. The second phase is expected to go on till the end of March.

While many of the BTech and dual degree students have been placed, students in courses such as MSc, MS and PhD are yet to find jobs through the placement process. The institute has called on the faculty members to help pull strings in industry to get students in these courses find jobs in areas they are interested in.

Speaking to TOI earlier about BTech and dual degree students being more in demand than PhD and MSc students, IIT-Madras director Bhaskar Ramamurthi said that students in these courses had a different agenda when compared to BTech students. We are trying to get the students interested in research and not just employment, he said.

By M Ramya, TNN | Jan 17, 2013, 04.10 AM IST

480 - States unwilling to join new IIT-JEE format

States unwilling to join new IIT-JEE format

By SI News

As the government moves ahead with its plan for a common engineering entrance test, amajority of states at a meeting of education ministers on Tuesday refused to join the new IIT-JEE entrance format for institutions run by them.

A proposed new format for the Indian Institutes of Technology-Joint Entrance Exam (IIT-JEE) merges it with All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE) and states have been given freedom to decide on joining the common entrance exam.

However, except Haryana, Maharashtra and Gujarat, states at the Tuesday meeting did not express willingness to join the new JEE, said sources.

"Majority of states have not agreed to join the new format of common entrance examfor the state-run institutions," an official from the human resource development ministry said, declining to be named.

At the meeting, the states, however, did not oppose the adoption of the new pattern for central institutions.

A statement from the ministry said: "After detailed deliberations, the proposal for a common examination process for admission to engineering programmes was supported unanimously."

Most state ministers also disagreed on different criteria set for IITs and other institutions.

The new entrance test format combines IIT-JEE and AIEEE, and the successful candidates will be admitted to IITs, National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and other central institutions. The government proposal says within this format a different yardstick will be adopted for admission to IITs, which will only take students with higher percentage in the test.

States are opposed to this and have sought the same criteria for admission to IITs, NITs and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs). HRD Minister Kapil Sibal remained non-committal on accepting this demand.

The new pattern, after the merger of AIEEE and IIT-JEE, will have two papers -- main and advanced -- and will also include a fixed weightage from the Class 12 boardexam results.

IIT professors and alumni have opposed the move, saying it will dilute the standards of IITs.

"If the yardstick for admission to IITs and other institutions is made same, it will dilute the IITs as envisioned by first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru," said IIT-Delhi Alumni Association president Somnath Bharti.

He called the proposal an "eyewash". "It will not reduce multiplicity of entrance tests, nor will it stop the coaching institutions. Rather coaching will now be given for all board exams, and the two papers for the JEE." IANS

479 - IIT undergraduate fee hiked from Rs 50K to Rs 90K per year

Mon, Jan 07, 2013 at 21:59

IIT undergraduate fee hiked from Rs 50K to Rs 90K per year

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Council on Monday gave a go-ahead to the proposed hike in the tuition fee for undergraduate students. With the go-ahead to the proposal, the fee will be hiked from Rs 50,000 to Rs 90,000 per year from 2013.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Council on Monday gave a go-ahead to the proposed hike in the tuition fee for undergraduate students. With the go-ahead to the proposal, the fee will be hiked from Rs 50,000 to Rs 90,000 per year from 2013.

The announcement was made by Union Human Resources Development (HRD) Minister MM Pallam Raju on Monday.

Notably, the Kakodkar Committee had in 2011 recommended a steep hike of Rs 2-2.5 lakh per annum from the existing Rs 50,000. The Kakodkar Committee constituted by the Council of IITs had suggested the four-fold increase in tuition fee to help IITs attain financial independence.

The recommendations of the Kakodkar panel were being considered by an empowered task force and the standing committee of the IIT Council had met in Mumbai on November 5, 2011, where it had recommended the increase in the tuition fee.

478 - Short on faculty, IITs look towards students

Short on faculty, IITs look towards students

Himanshi Dhawan, TNN Jan 6, 2013, 06.29AM IST

NEW DELHI: Under-graduate engineering students from technical institutes may be able to teach and earn as they learn at the premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

Faced with a severe faculty shortage, IITs have proposed mentoring the top 15% under-graduate students from IITs, National Institute of Technology (NITs), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) and National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) through a teacher training program.

The proposal will be discussed at the IIT Council meeting on January 7 to be chaired by human resource development minister M M Pallam Raju.

IITs hope this joint program will enhance teacher quality and mitigate faculty shortage. The selected students could be asked to undergo a trainee teacher program at NITs. ``While initially they would assist in teaching they would simultaneously go through part-time post-graduate and doctoral programs so they can acquire higher education qualification that is a prerequisite for teaching at IIT and NITs,'' sources said.

Students taking up teaching programmes is not an unusual feature in many western universities but they are more typically pursuing post-graduate programmes. Students avail of assistantships to help pay university fees.

IITs hope to produce well qualified and skilled teachers and researchers while addressing the faculty needs for under-graduate students.

The ministry had set up a committee to suggest solutions to the lack of faculty in all central government-funded institutes and student-teachers is one of proposals being considered.

According to HRD ministry, IITs suffer from a nearly 33% vacancy while the faculty shortage is about 35% in the NITs. The teacher-student ratio in the 7 older IITs is about 1:16 at present, higher than the suggested 1:10. In the 8 new IITs, the ratio is about 1:8, in adherence to the international standards. About 1,600 teaching positions are required to offset the faculty shortage in the 15 IITs in the country.

477 - HRD minister steps in to boost quality in IITs, IIMs

HRD minister steps in to boost quality in IITs, IIMs

Prakash Kumar NEW DELHI, Dec 22, 2012, DHNS

‘Institutes not focussing on academic excellence’

Dissatisfied with the performance of newly set up IITs and IIMs, the government has gone tough on their directors, asking them to concentrate more on academic excellence and research in their institutes than on administrative issues.

This came at a recent meeting held by Human Resource Development Minister MM Pallam Raju with the heads of these premier technical and management institutes here.

During the meeting, the minister observed that the directors of these institutes were more concerned with their problems like difficulties in getting land from the state governments for setting up of permanent campus, utilisation of funds and purchase of equipments.

“The minister asked the directors to concentrate more on the academic matters like teaching, getting good faculty, industry linkage and enhancing research output,” sources in the HRD Ministry told Deccan Herald. The Centre established eight Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and six Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) during 11th Five Year Plan in order to create more quality professionals.

“However, they are yet to start yielding the desired results as they continue to focus more administrative issues than achieving academic excellence,” sources added.

Some of these institutes are yet to get adequate land for permanent campus while others, which have got land, are yet to finalise the master plan for the main campus. While the land has been handed over to IIT Mandi partially, the master plans are not ready for IIT-Jodhpur and IIT-Ropar.

Civil construction work of the departments and labs is to start at the sites meant for IITs in Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Jodhpur and Ropar. Among the new IIMs, IIM Ranchi is yet to get the land from the state government.

The directors feel that permanent campus would help their institutes enhance the academic and research activities. However, the minister, during the meeting, suggested that being academicians, they should focus more on academic issues and administrative issues like setting up of permanent campus should be handled by the registrar and other officials of their institutes, sources added.

476 - New IITs fail to make the grade just four years after they were created

New IITs fail to make the grade just four years after they were created

By RITIKA CHOPRA

PUBLISHED: 21:10 GMT, 10 December 2012 | UPDATED: 23:12 GMT, 10 December 2012

Four years after they were established, the new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are turning out to be just a 'quantitative' achievement.

Seven out of the eight new institutions are yet to attract almost half the number of teachers that the central government had expected them to.

That the new institutes are on a bumpy ride to achieving the levels of 'IIT' excellence is evident from the latest HRD ministry data, which shows that apart from IITHyderabad, all the new institutes are facing a shortage of anything between 40 to 50 per cent in permanent faculty posts. 

For instance, IIT-Ropar and IIT-Mandi, which is the youngest of all new IITs, haven't filled 49 per cent and 53 per cent of permanent faculty positions, respectively.

While this may not affect the teaching of programmes so much - as the lack of teachers is being made up with temporary appointments, adjunct and guest faculty - the shortage has contributed in stunting the growth in the number of programmes offered and, consequently, the number of students.

Location problem

The reasons for this failure are being attributed to a number of factors, the biggest being the remote location of new IITs.

'No new IIT should be located in areas that aren't well developed. Why would a good teacher want to join us when the connectivity is poor and the city/town doesn't offer good job opportunities to his or her spouse and good schooling options for his or her kids?' the head of one of the new IITs said.

It's not as if this problem has come as a bolt from the blue for the institute directors or the government.

The establishment of eight new IITs - at Mandi, Jodhpur, Gandhinagar, Ropar, Hyderabad, Indore, Bhubaneswar and Patna - by the UPA government in 2008 had come in for severe criticism, especially in academic circles, as they had been set up by mere declaration, without any ground work. 

The seven old IITs were burdened with the tall order of executing the political decision and getting everything in order for the new IITs.

Faculty shortage at the new IITs is just one of the byproducts of the proposal that was clearly not thought through.

Even four years after their establishment, directors of the new IITs continue to function out of their temporary campuses.

More...

• IIT panel proposes 80% fee hike for undergraduates
• IIT council to meet to clear confusion over new entrance exam format
• IIT-Delhi joins the rebellion going one step ahead

With the exception of IIT-Mandi and IITBhubaneswar, the remaining institutes continue to miss their target of beginning construction at the permanent campus sites.

The delay was because of the red-tapism in getting land approval from the state and central departments.

According to HRD officials, Pallam Raju, the new incumbent, was also apprised of these problems and the status of campus construction during a review meeting of the new IITs on Monday.

Review meetings

The ministry is, meanwhile, treating this matter with a sense of urgency. Apart from writing letters to urge all central institutions to fill up vacant teaching positions, the ministry has started conducting review meetings every month of the new IITs and IIMs to ensure that everything's on track.

'Despite the locational disadvantage, IITs do not dilute their selection criteria and resort to distress recruitment, which could dilute quality of faculty and we obviously don't push them to,' said another senior ministry official.

According to M.K. Surappa, director, IIT Ropar, in spite of campus and faculty woes on paper, things are not bad on ground.

'I agree we are facing difficulty in attracting faculty because of the location. But even though we haven't been able to recruit the entire sanctioned strength of teachers, we haven't also increased our seats for each programme either. So our student to teacher ratio remains a healthy 1:10,' he said.

To neutralise locational disadvantage, some of the new institutes have started to carve a niche in areas that are relevant to their surroundings.

For instance, IIT-Mandi is working on specialising in sustainable development.

At IITRopar, spouses of selected candidates have also been offered teaching or research opportunities as an incentive to attract faculty. 

Comparing new and old IITs is unfair

By GOVERDHAN MEHTA 

The statistics provided by the HRD ministry to Parliament are factually correct. Most of the new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have not been able to fill up almost 50 per cent of the 90-plus faculty positions approved under the 11th Five Year Plan. 

But this fact cannot necessarily be seen as 'faculty shortage'. 

The term gives the impression that the new IITs do not have the resources to run viable programmes and that is far from the truth. The issue of vacant positions has to be, therefore, looked at cautiously. 

Having said that, I also want to make it clear that my argument of looking at the issue of vacant positions in perspective should not be interpreted as an excuse. 

There are no excuses in academic pursuits. An average strength of 50 professors is not optimal for institutes with ambition as high as that of the IITs. 

But one has to allow the new IITs to build themselves like the old institutes have over the past five decades. 

Drawing comparisons between the old and the new at this stage is completely unfair. 

Also, let's not forget that the new IITs are competing with the older institutions for the same talent pool of teachers, which hasn't shown any dramatic changes in terms of numbers over the last five years. 

All employment offers made by the new IITs do not translate into teachers actually joining, especially in cases where a candidate has offers from an old and a new IIT. Older IITs with their robust campuses and established research facilities obviously hold better promise for a professor. 

The new institutions also have the locational disadvantage (living in remote location may not appeal to most applicants), but it's time new IITs stop complaining about that. 

The way forward is to work on making academic life at the new IITs of very high order and that can neutralise the locational disadvantage. 

Faculty will opt for a new IIT, irrespective of the small town the campus is in, as long as the opportunities of research are good. 

The new IITs also have the opportunity to induct new ideas into their campus buildings. 

IIT Jodhpur, for instance, has the desire to have a green and interactive campus and it's quite possible to do so as their campus will be built from scratch. 

Such changes are difficult to make for old institutes. 

The writer is a renowned scientist and chairman of the board of governors of IIT-Jodhpur (As told to Ritika Chopra)

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/article-2246034/New-IITs-fail-make-grade-just-years-created.html#ixzz2IElsGTEZ 

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475 - Tharoor says 20 new IITs, Raju says none

Tharoor says 20 new IITs, Raju says none

• • Dec 06, 2012 | Age Correspondent | New Delhi

474 - No invite, PSUs keep from IIT-B

No invite, PSUs keep from IIT-B Published: Tuesday, Dec 4, 2012, 6:30 IST  By Pallavi Smart | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

Though multinational companies (MNCs) are making a beeline to hire students from the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B), there are no signs of public sector units (PSUs) at the campus placements this year.

Thanks to a court case in the Madras high court, the Union ministry of human resources and development (HRD) has instructed all IITs not to invite PSUs for campus placements.
Some students, who got job offers last year during the campus placements, are yet to hear from the companies about their joining dates even after getting an offer letter. Considering the situation, the IITs have not invited any PSUs for placements this year.

Avijeet Chatterjee, prof in-charge of the placements at the IIT-B, said, “There are no PSUs on campus to hire students. Since the matter of employment in PSUs is sub-judice, the HRD ministry instructions are to not invite PSUs for campus placements.”

Last year, around seven PSUs visited IIT-B campus to recruit and around 25 students received offer letters. Among these companies, four were A-listed firms which meant if a student managed to get a job there, they could not appear for any other interview. This has led to a situation where students have offer letters from PSUs but no clarity on joining the company. PSUs have hired students from IITS earlier but the case surfaced in the Madras high court only when students were recruited last year. The case challenged the very fact of PSUs’ hiring from campus claiming it was against the public employment policy.

A public interest litigation (PIL) filed in the Madras High Court slammed PSUs for holding campus recruitment in private institutions, saying the practice was opposed to public employment policy and that recruitment should be done only through employment exchanges or through public advertisements inviting applications from eligible candidates across the country.
In September, the court in an interim order vacated a stay granted on the PIL. The job offers are subject to the final decision of the court.

A final year computer engineering student said, “We have seen some of our seniors confused over their PSU job offers. So we feel it is better that there are no PSUs this year.”

473 - Mock tests for students taking IIT entrance examination

Mock tests for students taking IIT entrance examination

Tests to be held from second week of January; students can make changes in application form after registration

Prashant K. Nanda 

New Delhi: Students taking the first single exam for entering the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and other engineering colleges in April will get a chance to take part in mock tests as part of an effort by the government and the IITs to familiarize admission seekers with the new format.

In another first, students will also be allowed to make changes in their application form, once in January, after the ongoing registration process for the exam ends in mid-December.

The mock test will be conducted for almost three months beginning in the second week of January, said Vineet Joshi, chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which is in charge of conducting the joint entrance exam (main, JEE Main) for all centrally-funded technical schools. 

CBSE functions under the human resource development (HRD) ministry.

“This will clear the doubts in the minds of students and make them aware of the JEE pattern in its first edition,” he said.

In May, the government decided to allow admission to all IITs and centrally-funded engineering institutes through a single test to reduce stress on students who sit for multiple entrance examinations. The so-called one nation, one test formula was adopted after a nationwide debate.

For selection to the elite IITs, students who finish among the top 150,000 in the entrance test will sit for another exam. To qualify for admission, they will need to finish in the top 20 percentile of their respective school board exams.

Joshi said since students from all school boards will take the test, they need to have a “look and feel of computer-based examination in a simulated environment”. There will be more than one sample test available for aspirants.

According to an official estimate, more than 1.2 million students are expected to appear for the test. The test will be conducted both in the pen-and-paper and online formats. There are nearly 25,000 seats available in all centrally-funded engineering schools, including 9,700 at the 15 IITs.

“The mock test will be a great idea. Since JEE (Main) will be key for entering IITs, it would be of immense help to students like me. I don’t have any problem with top 20 percentile, but any mistake with JEE (Main) will be a spoiler. So, it’s better to practice these mock tests before hand,” said Raghavendra Dhal, a Lucknow-based student.

Authorities said the registration process for JEE 2013 had already started and they had received feedback from students about the mistakes they had made in filling the forms online.

“Based on the feedback, we have now decided that sometime in January, we will open a window for registered candidates to make suitable correction on their forms in a variety of issues like their personal details, test-taking city, preference for centre, etc.,” Joshi said. According to the JEE (Main) website, aspirants who wish to take the computer-based test can review or re-answer any question at any point of time during the examination. Last year, IITs made answer sheets public to bring transparency to the system, Mint reported on 2 May.

Sanjeev Sanghi, a professor of IIT Delhi, said the IIT system had stayed robust because of its innovative approach and the debate it conducts before it takes any decision. “We are always (working) for the betterment of aspirants.”

472 - Fakes break into IIT, trigger ID verification crackdown

Fakes break into IIT, trigger ID verification crackdown

Charu Sudan Kasturi, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, November 24, 2012

The Indian Institutes of Technology are quietly verifying identities of first year students across the 16 premier engineering schools after two candidates secured seats without clearing the admission test, using digitally doctored admit cards of successful aspirants.

Both fake candidates were nabbed and have accepted their attempted fraud. But the IITs fear other unqualified students may have sneaked into their coveted undergraduate programmes using manipulated admit cards, Professor GB Reddy, organising chairman of the 2012 IIT Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) confirmed to HT.

“Because of the number of students involved, you can’t be completely sure that others haven’t slipped in using this technique,” Reddy said. “We don’t want to leave anything to chance.”

About 10,000 students were admitted to the IITs and the Indian School of Mines (ISM) Dhanbad based on their scores in the JEE 2012.

This is the first time the IITs have detected this kind of admissions fraud -- after students have secured seats through the online counseling the institutes conduct after the JEE results are announced -- and the impersonation carries shades of the plot of 2009 blockbuster 3 Idiots.











Previous fraud cases have involved impersonation in the JEE and were detected at that stage. But the 2012 cases point to a novel strategy to perpetrate fraud, which IIT officials believe includes candidates who clear the JEE and then possibly sell their admit cards – the primary document used by the institutes to verify the identity of candidates.

The Institutes have kept their discovery of the fraud and their follow up action – including an FIR filed against one of the fraud students -- a closely guarded secret, even from the human resource development (HRD) ministry.

The Joint Admission Board (JAB) of the IITs – the highest admissions-related body of the institutes – has decided that a JEE 2012 team will randomly scrutinize first year students when they appear for their first semester internal examinations, Reddy said.

These examinations – and the identity check -- have started at different IITs. Students appearing for the internal tests are being checked against photos in admit cards issued by the IITs for the JEE. But students aren’t being told the reasons.

The IITs caught the fraud students -- a boy who claimed admission to IIT Bhubaneswar and a girl who even joined ISM Dhanbad – when they physically came to their campuses after selecting seats through the online counseling.

“There was a mismatch between their digital thumb imprints and those of the candidates who cleared the JEE,” Reddy said. 

Thumb imprints are recorded when candidates appear for the JEE. Though admission officials are expected to match these imprints with the imprints of students when they actually come to claim their seats after clearing the entrance test, IIT administrators admit that they aren’t convinced about the rigour followed in this process.

"The truth is that we only really rely on thumb imprints if we suspect anything wrong after looking at admit cards," an IIT Director said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Both the fraud candidates caught by the IITs had scanned the admit cards of other, successful, JEE takers, and digitally altered photos on them.

“We believe that they hoped to then formally apply for a legal ‘name change,’ switching to their actual names, to complete the fraud,” an IIT Madras administrator aware of the case said.

The IIT Bhubaneswar boy ran away from the campus with his bags after he was confronted about the fingerprint mismatch. His suspicious behaviour prompted a full-fledged investigation by the IITs, in which they confirmed that the photo on the admit card he produced for admissions did not match the one the Institutes had on the admit card they issued. 

But the ISM Dhanbad girl challenged the IITs when they questioned her identity, and only accepted her fraud after the institutes filed an FIR against her and the police began their investigation.

The girl withdrew her admission from ISM Dhanbad as a part of a deal agreed to by the IITs in exchange for the institutes withdrawing the FIR.

The IITs have frequently over the past years caught candidates impersonating others in the JEE, including even the son of former IIT Kharagpur Director Shishir Dube.

Instances of more routine cheating during the entrance test are also common but the candidates are usually caught and barred from the test, making those extremely risky routes to adopt in defrauding the IIT admissions system.

But the strategy employed by the fraud students this year points to new tactics that officials described as “more worrying” than what they usually see, because it involves students – and not just the exam taker – adopting a fake identity for four years.

The attempts by the fraud students resemble the role played by Bollywood star Aamir Khan in 3 Idiots.

Khan’s character, a brilliant but poor boy, impersonates the academically weak son of a rich businessman at an engineering college modeled on the IITs for a win-win deal – Khan gets to study, and the rich boy gets a prestigious degree.

About 4.5 lakh students appear for the IIT-JEE each year, competing for 10,000 seats at the 16 IITs and ISM Dhanbad. The chance at success in the IIT entrance examination – one in every 45 applicants – is lower than that at Ivy League universities and even the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), on which the IITs are modelled.

The IITs are viewed as gateways to successful careers across India.

But student aspirations – often bordering on desperation – coupled with the intense competition for seats, have also created fertile ground for newer and newer kinds of admissions fraud.

471 - Do you think IITs should hike fees by 80 per cent or more than that?

Student's corner

Business Standard / Mumbai Nov 22, 2012, 02:01 IST

Dear Students,
LAST WEEK WE ASKED: Do you think IITs should hike fees by 80 per cent or more than that?

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BEST RESPONSE Over five decades IITs are famous for the merit based admissions and very negligible tuition fees. Also most of the students belong to villages. Those students were passionately working hard to get to IITs as the fee burden on the family was less. Now the hiking of the fees may be marginal from institute’s point of view but this means a lot to those student. Loan requires heavy documentation and ultimately adds pressure to students. Instead IITs should look for options such as corporate sponsorship's, funds from government, and alumni, among others.

- Dani Sarang A, Vishwakarma Institute of Management, Pune.

OTHER RESPONSES:
There are two categories of brilliant students who get into IITs. They are the meritorious ones and the students belonging to SC/ST/OBC category. Currently, the engineering education over there are highly subsidized because the professors over there are paid their salaries by the government. Considering the fact that IITs are the top institutes in India, a fee hike from their side would deprive the students of their opportunities in perusing their professional carrier. This would result in the IITs becoming like the private institutions that are in need of money, thereby diluting their image in the market.

- Arun Sundar, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, Bangalore.

Given the value of education imparted by IITs, a higher than 80 per cent fees hike too would have stood justified. The highly subsidized fees that prevailed were to facilitate the students to use their expertise for the development of the country. Given that most students who clear IIT Entrance are from affluent families, many of whom prefer to migrate to the west if given a chance; and the remuneration that an IIT degree gives you, the fees hike is requisite. However government should make sure to award scholarships to economically backward students so that they aren't adversely affected by the fees hike.

- Glorin Sebastian, Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship (XIME), Bangalore.

If one has to look at the quality of education that is imbibed in students at IIT, the proposed fee hike by 80% seems quite reasonable. Given the level of inflation in the country, it is but natural the same would also affect the teaching staff that has contributed to the growth of the IITs through their yeoman's service put in all these years. There is a chance that the same teaching staff may move over to private institutions that offer better pay packages thereby causing more damage to the IITs.

- Amol Mahale, The Institute of Cost Accountants of India.

I strongly disagree with the suggested hike in the fees of IITs. Firstly, there are some fields like healthcare, education, security, woman empowerment etc , which are the moral responsibility of government, so education (whether primary or higher or professional) must be within the reach of a common man. Secondly, if IIMs are charging high fees , their fees should be reduced instead of increasing the fees of IITs. Even today we can see many kids from underprivileged segment are not able to get the right opportunity even if they have the ability.

- Ramesh Singh, St. Kabir Institute of Professional Studies, Ahmedabad.

The suggested fee hike is right on the ground that the annual budget of the IITs consistently increasing, because of inflation, with no corresponding increase in their income. Increasing tuition fees is the only way for the IITs to make up for the huge deficit. If approved, the proposed increase in the fee will not influence students from the Schedule Caste, Scheduled Tribe and OBC quota. It is only meant for the general category students. The proposed fee of Rs 90,000 per annum is still way less than the good private institutes.

- Kishore Iyengar, St. Kabir Institute of Professional Studies, Ahmedabad.

The fee hike at IIT’s would give way for the other private Institutions to hike their fees according to their own whims and fancies. As such the ratio of students aspiring to be engineers and the number of IIT’s across the country is so disproportionate that many need to be contended with pursuing their degree in private colleges only. The proposed fee hike would only be an additional financial burden to the parents of the students who aspire to be future engineers and nothing else.

- Bhuvana Bhimaiah, Alagappa University, Bangalore.

It is much needed for triumph educational institution like IIT to hike their fees as per current global standard. It will reduce burden on the government and will provide financial independence to the institute to invest more on technology and education. As far as the students from economically weaker section are taken into consideration, scholarship by the government should be provided to the needy.

- Akriti Rastogi, GLA Institute of Technology and Management, Mathura.

IITs should increase its fees to some extent and if possible it can go beyond the 80 per cent mark. If we compare IITs with other top engineering college in USA the fees of IITs is very negligible compared to them. Increasing fees will help IITs to maintain its budget so that it can retain quality faculties as well as can invest more on research. Although hiking fees may have some burden to the student of those lower income families but in order to protect the interest of IIT and maintain its quality IITs should increase its fees.

- Pritheejit Chatterjee, Indian Institute Of Social Welfare and Business Management, Kolkata.

If the fees of IIT colleges are hiked,then only rich students can afford to take admissions in IIT colleges. Students prefer IITs over other colleges because they provide quality education at nearly the same or lower fees than several private institutes. It would be difficult for meritorious students to get admission into IITs for the sake of higher fees. Instead of hiking the fees, authorities of IITs can ask students to pay after they get jobs for the development of the IITs.

- Rituparna Saha Ray, Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues Institute of Management Studies, Navi Mumbai.

IIT fees hike is totally reasonable. The average salary of an IITian is at least Rs. 7-8 lakh. So if the student has taken an education loan they would be able to repay the loan in a couple of years. The salaries of IIT faculty members and staff have gone up by nearly 70 per cent since sixth pay commission was introduce recently, so the institutes wants to balance every expenditures. I positively agree with the panel of IIT institute for hike up fees and optimistically parents is totally not oppose to an hike, because IIT gives worth it on that fees.

- Vivek Shah, St. Kabir Institute of Professional Studies, Ahmedabad.

IITs are making foray into diverse subjects and the 80 per cent fee increment will provide some relief to the cost incurred per IIT student. IITs are dependent on government grants and hence are controlled by the government. Moreover, students admitted to the premier institution can avail easy loans. Merit based scholarship is provided to one third of the students who can’t afford the fees. But raising more than 80 per cent will give the economically downtrodden a run for their money stressing the fact that IITs are ‘Institutes of National Importance’ representing the assiduous Indian youth irrespective of their socio-economic condition.

- Rishav Dugar, Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship, Bangalore.

Even a fourfold increase in the fees would not make IIT education beyond the realms of the common man because students whose parental income is less than Rs 4.5 lakh and those belonging to backward sections are given exemption even upto 100 per cent. When Rs 1-2 lakh is the average money spent on IIT-JEE coaching by aspirants, the new fee structure is not a botheration. Private colleges taking cue of this situation must be prevented. While financial independence for IITs is one thing, the government must increase the allocation of research grants to the premier institutes to become truly world class.

- Shilpa Subramanian, Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship (XIME), Bangalore.

The proposed increase in the fee will not affect students from the Reserved category. Secondly, it will give IITs more financial independence from the government. Since the average salary of IITians are roughly Rs eight lakhs they will be able to repay the loans in couple of years. We should also remember that fee include not only academic but also include hostel fee and multitude of other facility which student avail at IITs. Lastly IITs already offer highly subsidized education which is not linked to inflation and other extraneous factor at all.

- Nilaya Mitash Shanker, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.

There are two aspects to the increase in fee. Firstly hiking the fee is good as it will make the IITs financially a little better and less dependent on government funding. However the second aspect is that hike would burden students, as in recent period more students from lower classes are taking admission to IITs. But if fee hike is taken to cover the increase in operational cost of IITs, a special loan scheme should be worked out so that students have the option of paying back the extra burden after they finish their course and find employment.

- Arjun Malkar, Fr. C Rodrigues Institute Of Management Studies, Navi Mumbai.

IITs are the entry ticket to the arena of world-class facilities along with a lifelong tag of being a part of it. But with hike in fees this entry ticket would be expensive. But with ample fringe benefits, impressive average salary figures along with ease in availability of bank loans, this wouldn't be a big deal for those aspirants who spend plenty of money in coaching institutions for its preparation. It would also help IITs to achieve financial independence and cope up with price hike of facilities.

- Girish Changulani, Jhunjhunwala Business School, Faizabad.

470 - Govt sticks to single entrance plan for engineering colleges

Govt sticks to single entrance plan for engineering colleges

HRD minister Raju says the govt will implement the single entrance tests from the next academic year

Prashant K. Nanda 

First Published: Wed, Nov 21 2012. 04 51 PM IST

Updated: Thu, Nov 22 2012. 12 47 AM IST

New Delhi: The government said on Wednesday that it will stick to its decision to hold a single entrance test for all engineering colleges, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), from next year.

It also ruled out any extension of deadline for implementing the Right to Education (RTE) Act beyond next 31 March.

Human resource development (HRD) minister M.M. Pallam Raju emphasized that there would be no directional change in education policymaking after he took over the portfolio last month from Kapil Sibal.

His remarks put at rest speculation that the change of guard at the ministry may prompt a relook at Sibal’s formula of one nation-one test for admission to IITs and other engineering institutions The IIT Alumni Association said on Wednesday that it may move the courts against the move.

The government is ready “to implement it from 2013 academic year”, Raju said at his first press briefing after becoming HRD minister. “A lot of thought has gone into it. It’s in the larger interest of the student community. It would be unfair for me to question it.”

IIT Alumni Association members wrote to Raju soon after his appointment in the 28 October cabinet reshuffle. A delegation met him last week and said in a note that he promised to revisit issues involving the IITs, including the controversial changes in the joint entrance examination format by his predecessor.

“They had expressed their concerns and views, but I did not commit anything,” Raju said on Wednesday. He said the new format will save a lot of hassle and money for students who apply for multiple entrance tests held in various venues. “I think it’s a good system. There will be transitional hiccups, but it will be streamlined,” he said.

In the new format, all central government-funded technical institutes will give 40% weightage to students’ performance in their school board examinations and 60% to their scores in the common entrance test.

In the case of the IITs, the top 150,000 students in the common admission test will sit for another test to enable national ranking of candidates vying for selection to the elite institutes. A student will also have to finish among the top 20 percentile in the school-leaving examination to qualify for admission to the IITs.

Somnath Bharti, one of the members of the delegation that met Raju, said the statement by the minister was “discouraging”.

“If this is the response, then the next step (for us) is going to the court,” said Bharti, a Supreme Court lawyer and coordinator of IITians for IITs’ Autonomy, an alumni group.

He said the alumni association will soon meet and finalize “the next course of action”.

A.K. Mittal, secretary of the IIT Faculty Federation, said the teachers’ body was not opposed to the move. “We are not against implementation of the plan but we have a couple of concerns about whether a section of the students will miss out due to the new format.”

He said limiting admission to the top 20 percentile of students in school board exams may hinder the chances of some otherwise meritorious students.

The new HRD minister also said he wouldn’t extend the deadline for implementation of the RTE Act. RTE guarantees education to all students in the 6-14 age group.

As per the Act, all primary schools need to fulfil at least 11 parameters, including teachers’ appointments, playground facility and provision of drinking water, before 31 March. Many schools are struggling with deficient infrastructure. The draft 12th Five-Year Plan has underlined that less than 10% of all schools have complied with RTE norms. There are 1.3 million teachers’ vacancies in schools.

“We will move fast and not change the deadline. Else the purpose will be defeated,” Raju said.

Madhav Chavan, head of education think tank Pratham, said RTE was a “very ideal but complicated Act” and the government’s target now seems very “impractical”.

469 - Government to go ahead with JEE

 NEW DELHI, November 22, 2012

Government to go ahead with JEE

Special Correspondent

Rejecting the demand to review the joint entrance examination for admission to undergraduate engineering courses in the centrally funded technical institutions, the government on Wednesday said it would go ahead with the proposed test in 2013.

The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Alumni Association had met the new Human Resource Development Minister, M.M.Pallam Raju, last week and asked him to review the decision for including the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) under the purview of the joint entrance examination (JEE).

``I reviewed the proposal after the Alumni Association met with me and realised it was in the interest of the students. It would be unfair for me to question the decision and we stand to implement it (JEE) in 2013,’’ Mr Raju told reporters here.

The IIT Alumni and Faculty Associations had opposed the joint admission test right from the beginning on the ground that it would dilute the standard of the institutions and have even met the Prime Minister on the issue. A delegation of the IIT Delhi Alumni Association had met Mr Raju on November 16 seeking his intervention in reviewing the proposal. The Minister had assured them he would study the proposal and get back to them within a week.

``I have examined the issue. It is a good system and we will stick to it. There may be initial hiccups but it will streamline eventually,’’ he said.

Based on the recommendations of Ramasami Committee Report which suggested a common national examination with weightage to State Board results normalised on the basis of percentile formula for admission to engineering institutions, the joint engineering examination had, however, been stiffly opposed by the IITs and after lot of deliberations managed to have an additional exam for selection to the IITs.

The JEE for admission to the undergraduate programme in engineering would be conducted in two parts: JEE-Main and JEE-advanced. JEE-advanced examination will be held after the JEE-Main with a suitable time gap. Only top 150,000 candidates (all categories) in JEE Main will be qualified to appear.

Admissions to IITs will be based only on category wise All India Rank (AIR) in JEE Advanced subject to the condition that such candidates are in the top 20 percentile of successful candidates of their Boards in applicable categories. The admission to NITs will be based on 40 per cent weightage for performance in Class XII Board marks normalised on percentile basis and the remainder 60 per cent weightage would be given for performance in JEE Main and a combined merit list would be decided accordingly.

The HRD Ministry has also decided not to grant any extension to States to fully roll out the provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The deadline for full implementation of the Act ends on March 2013.

``We are committed to meeting the deadline. We will work with the States lagging behind in the implementation,’’ Mr Pallam Raju said while admitting that there was shortage of teachers, infrastructure was woefully inadequate and there were issues over mid day meals following the government’s decision to increase the price of cooking gas.

``However, we will work with the States in overcoming these challenges. We will hold hands, coax, threaten and eventually work with them,’’ the Minister explained though he did not spell out any plan of action to achieve the goal. ``Our will is the plan to meet the challenge,’’ he said.

``We would not like to extend the deadline and neither have any States demanded any extension though many States do face genuine problems related to infrastructure development and recruitment of teachers. There is a shortage of 13.5 lakh teachers at school level. 

468 - IIT alumni discuss changes to JEE with new HRD minister

IIT alumni discuss changes to JEE with new HRD minister

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Mumbai, November 17, 2012

The alumni of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) met with the new human resources development minister M Pallam Raju in Delhi on Friday, in what was described as a "positive meeting", to point out contentious issues in the entrance exam reforms.

The alumni had sought an appointment to raise the issue of the controversial changes to the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for entry into the IITs from next year. The alumni had contended that the changes went against previous court orders and that there were inherent flaws in the system.

The delegation that met the minister released a note after Friday's meeting saying they would follow up in a week, adding that the minister had heard them out and promised to look into the issues.

"[He] promised to give a fresh visit to the issues concerning the IITs, including controversial changes inducted in JEE by his predecessor," said the note from the alumni.

"He showed inclination to take actions which are in the interest of all the stakeholders of the IIT system. Without commenting, either way, on rolling back of the misdirected changes brought in JEE, he promised to give a patient hearing on the issues concerning IIT autonomy, including JEE."

In July, the IITs had agreed to a two-part exam and the use of board exam marks as an eligibility and not admission criterion. It was decided that from next year students would have to clear both exams and be within the top 20 percentile of successful candidates in their Class 12 board to get admission.

The alumni had vehemently opposed the ministry's attempts at changing the JEE. Finally, a compromise formula had been reached, with the IITs agreeing to a two-part exam with board marks as an eligibility, not an admission criteria.

     

467 - CBSE to conduct joint entrance exam in April

CBSE to conduct joint entrance exam in April

Deepa Sharma Sood, Hindustan Times

Ludhiana, November 15, 2012

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will conduct the offline mode of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) on April 7, 2013. The online examination will be held on April 8 and 25. The board has decided that for admission to national institutes of technology (NITs) and centrally-funded technical institutions such as the Indian institutes of technology (IITs), the merit/rank will be based on 40% weightage to school board marks in Class 12 and 60% weightage to the JEE (Main).

The last date for applying online is December 15. The last date for receipt of the “confirmation receipt” at the JEE (Main) secretariat is December 26 (by registered/speed post only).

Paper one (physics, chemistry and mathematics) will be conducted in two modes - offline (pen and paper-based examination) and online. Paper two (mathematics, aptitude test and drawing test) of the JEE (Main) will be conducted in the offline mode.

Talking to Hindustan Times, Pradeep Singh, principal of Shamrock Christian Senior Secondary School, Ludhiana, said, “The board’s decision to count 40% of the marks scored by students in Class 12 will make it tough for them to get admission to IITs. Now, it has become more important for students to score well in Class 12.”

Ankita Chaudhary, a Class-12 student in a private school here, said, “I am working very hard as I want to score more than 90% marks in Class-12 board exams. Only then do I stand a chance of getting admission in an IIT.”

466 - While Indian universities stagnate, those in China are becoming engines of growth

Barun Roy: The new class While Indian universities stagnate, those in China are becoming engines of growth Barun Roy / New Delhi Nov 15, 2012, 00:06 IST In the latest annual rankings of the world’s 200 best universities by Times Higher Education (THE), there’s not a single Indian name. Shocking? Then here’s the surprise: 15 Asian universities figure in the same survey as the rising stars of global higher education — two from China, three from South Korea, four from Japan, four from Hong Kong, one from Singapore, and one from Taiwan. Put the two facts together, and you get a pretty good idea of what the new class is going to be like. Japan, of course, has been for long a respected presence on the global academic scene and will continue to be a steady winner in future rankings. But it’s China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan), South Korea and Singapore that are making waves right now – in particular, China and South Korea – as they entrench their positions as the world’s new destinations of excellence, Western domination of global higher education, still unquestioned, could begin to feel the pinch. In the THE rankings, universities are judged for teaching quality, research activities, knowledge transfer, and international outlook. If, against these criteria, the National University of Singapore could occupy the 29th position in the 2012-13 survey, the University of Hong Kong the 35th, Peking and Tsinghua Universities in China the 46th and 52nd places, respectively, Seoul National University the 59th slot and Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology the 68th, the future shouldn’t be hard to read. Even more remarkable is the strength of the determination to excel. The National University of Singapore, for example, moved up 11 notches from a year ago, while Tsinghua and Seoul National jumped 19 and 56 places, respectively, in a single year. Academic circles in the West believe a bigger Asian presence in the global league is only a matter of time. Where exactly does India stand? A year ago, India was nowhere even among the world’s 300 best, and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai had a presence in the 301-350 band. In 2012-13, IIT Kharagpur appeared in the 226-250 bracket, IIT Mumbai advanced into the 251-275 range, while IIT Roorkee sneaked into the last of the ranking categories, 351-400. There’s a movement, yes, but still a very tentative one. What’s the secret that the Chinese and the Koreans know and we don’t? Simply put, it’s their desire to blend pure academic pursuits with down-to-earth R&D, go the extra mile to woo international talent, open up channels of international cooperation, and turn universities into laboratories of national development.  Working towards this end, and encouraged by their governments, universities in the two countries have undergone a character change that foreign students and professors find increasingly hospitable, as do foreign corporations looking across borders for partnerships in problem-solving research. Both countries have been pumping huge amounts of money every year into research and higher education. South Korea, where the private sector accounts for almost 74 per cent of all R&D spending, has a funding programme called the “World-Class University Project” that encourages universities to establish new academic departments and host international scholars for collaborative research. China treats its universities and research institutes as “engines of growth”, expecting them to function as idea machines to serve specific industry needs. It’s not a surprise therefore that foreign professors and students are as welcome in China as multinational corporations seeking to expand R&D alliances in the country. IBM, Intel, Microsoft, and many other foreign firms have substantial collaborative arrangements with Chinese universities. China’s own R&D spending, coursed mainly through its universities and research institutes, was up 23 per cent to $139.2 billion in 2011, which meant a steady rise of 20 per cent on average for the sixth straight year. Until as late as 1993, exchanging students, swapping information, and attending international conferences were the primary modes of China’s international academic collaboration. Things began to change when a new law was introduced that year on the future of science and technology in the country. Beijing’s Tsinghua University – where this year’s Nobel Prize co-winner in Chemistry, Brian Kobilka, is a guest professor – reflects how this change is affecting Chinese academia. In 1950, Tsinghua only had 14 foreign students on its rolls, all from Eastern Europe. In October last year, 3,450 international students from 112 countries were studying there. In recent years, it has been particularly aggressive in seeking R&D collaborations with international partners, widening the scope it offers for practical research and enhancing its appeal among students and teachers alike. A typical example is a new lab that BT, a leading provider of communications services, is setting up at Tsinghua to undertake joint projects in areas like the business application of cloud computing. The purpose is as much to provide a bridge between Chinese innovation and BT technology as to develop new global patents that will give both China and BT a better competitive advantage.

465 - Super 30 founder opposes proposed fee hike of IITs

Super 30 founder opposes proposed fee hike of IITs

Pranava Kumar Chaudhary, TNN Nov 7, 2012, 08.24PM IST

PATNA: With decks cleared for a substantive hike in tuition fee at the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), Super 30 founder and mathematician Anand Kumar said it could go against the interest of meritorious students from poor families, who were already unable to bear the education expenses.

"The 13 IITs will increase fee for undergraduate programmes by 80% - Rs.50,000 per annum to Rs.90,000 per annum - from the next academic year if the IIT Council approves the standing committee's recommendation. This is too sharp an increase, especially for the underprivileged sections," Kumar told TOI.

Kumar said there was no justification of this at a time when the people were already grappling with price rise and growing expenses of education. "For poor students, it is a reality that even loans are not easy to get. As they don't get quality schooling, they have to spend even for alternative coaching. But now, even if they qualify, they will find it hard to afford," he added.

Citing Bihar's instance, he said in a state like Bihar with 60-70% BPL population and poor track record of banks in giving education loans, such a steep hike could have a detrimental effect. "In a welfare state, education should at least be kept accessible and affordable," he added.

He said that drawing a comparison between the fee structure of IITs and some of the private institutions was not the right way to look at it. "Private institutes have sheer private motive, but the government should not see it from the point of view of profit only. Education is an investment for the future, not present," he added.

464 - IIT panel proposes 80% fee hike for undergraduates Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2228281/IIT-panel-proposes-80-fee-hike-undergraduates.html#ixzz2I7dKHD53 Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

IIT panel proposes 80% fee hike for undergraduates

By RITIKA CHOPRA

PUBLISHED: 21:12 GMT, 5 November 2012 | UPDATED: 23:29 GMT, 5 November 2012

The decks have been cleared for a substantive hike in tuition fee at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). 

The 13 elite tech schools could increase their fee for undergraduate programmes by 80 per cent - Rs 50,000 per annum to Rs 90,000 per annum - from the next academic year if the IIT Council approves the standing committee's recommendation finalised on Monday. 

The IIT Council is the final authority on this issue and is scheduled to meet on January 7.

The elite tech schools may hike fee from next academic year if approved by IIT council

If approved, this proposed increase in the fee will not affect students from the Schedule Caste, Scheduled Tribe and OBC quota.

It's only meant for the general category students. The suggestion seems well-timed as the HRD ministry has recently witnessed a change in leadership.

It would be interesting to see if this recommendation can pass muster at the meeting of the IIT Council under the chairmanship of the new HRD minister M.M. Pallam Raju as his predecessor Kapil Sibal wasn't in favour of a fee hike. 

Last year, he along with all IIT directors had agreed "in principle" on an alternative by which all IIT graduates would have to reimburse their alma mater the expenditure incurred on them after having found a job.

According to members of the standing committee, the IITs cannot wait for Sibal's idea to materialise as its implementation hinges on political consensus. 

For the uninitiated the National Academic Depository Bill is still pending in the Parliament. The Bill enables a shift to "demat" degrees. 

"Once the Demat system is in place, then the degrees of the IIT graduates will reflect the obligation to pay back to the institute and money will come back via the employer," Sibal had told reporters immediately after the IIT Council meeting in September last year. 

 Although, HRD ministry officials insist that Sibal's proposal still stands, they agree that till the idea is implemented there is a need for immediate fee hike as there has been none at least for the last three years. 

The suggested fee hike has been justified on the ground that the annual budget of the IITs has been consistently increasing (because of inflation) with no corresponding increase in their income. 

"What we get from the government is quite less than our budget. And looking at the present fiscal situation, it's unlikely that they will increase our grants.

Increasing tuition is the only way for the IITs to make up for this huge deficit," an IIT director, a member of the standing committee, who did not wish to be identified, said. 

"The proposed fee of Rs 90,000 per annum is still way less than what good private institutes charge today. Moreover, many general category students are also covered under scholarship.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2228281/IIT-panel-proposes-80-fee-hike-undergraduates.html#ixzz2I7dGbA6K 

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463 - Post-Kapil Sibal HRD stint, Shashi Tharoor slams students' standards

Post-Kapil Sibal HRD stint, Shashi Tharoor slams students' standards

The university system was not producing "well-educated" graduates to meet needs of Indian companies, giving an opportunity to firms to enter the sector in the "guise" of training, Minister of State for Higher Education Shashi Tharoor today said.

Kapil Sibal was Minister of Human Resource Development from 22 May 2009 – 28 October 2012.

He also said that the national education policy in the past has been out of step with the times.

"The major problem remains that our national education policy in the past has remained out of step with the time. Whereas countries in the Middle-East and China are going out of their way to woo foreign universities to set up campuses in their countries, India turned away many academic suiters who have come calling in recent years," he said.

Speaking at a two-day Higher Education Summit, Tharoor said, "Companies are entering the higher education space in the guise of training. Our University system simply is not producing well educated graduates to meet the needs of Indian companies today."

The HRD Minister said there will be no need for many Indian students to go abroad to study if good higher education institutes were set up in the country. "We will also work towards putting our reform agenda back on track," he said.

Tharoor said there is a proposal to establish 50 centres for research in frontier areas of science, design innovation centres, innovation centres in different universities and also research parts of the IITs and other technical institutions.

"If finally established, it would transform the research environment in our country," he said.

Tharoor favoured expediting setting up of National Mission for teachers and recommendations of the Narayana Murthy Committee and the Kakodkar Committee besides increasing the spending of 2 per cent on research.

The minister said with the ranks of educated unemployed in the country swelling in the absence of adequate employment opportunities, there is possibility of their falling prey to the activities of terrorists and Maoists.

"We must give them a better chance of employment through more and improved educational possibilities. My message is it is time to let a thousand educational flowers bloom," he said.

He said even though India with 621 universities and 33,500 colleges has one of the largest network of higher education institutes across the world and second in terms of student enrolment, our gross enrolment ratio of 18.8 per cent in 2011 is still less than the world average of 26 per cent.

He said there was need to develop higher levels of education and skill development and an environment must be created in which not only the economy grows rapidly but also enhances good quality employment.

Tharoor said as India aims to grow at 8.2 to 8.5 per cent GDP, the country needs to invest in education and help improve the quality of education.

Referring to a few world-class institutes like IIT's and IIMs and some colleges, the Minister said, "These are still islands in a sea of mediocrity".

Citing a UGC survey of 1,471 colleges and 111 universities, he said 73 per cent of the colleges and 68 per cent of the universities are found to be of medium or low quality.

He also said that a FICCI survey has revealed in 2009 that 64 per cent employers are "somewhat satisfied" with the quality of new graduates coming out of engineering institutes.

The minister lamented that spending on education is only 1.22 per cent of GDP, against USA's 3.1 per cent or South Korea's 2.4 per cent. He also said that the student-teacher ratio in India was 26:1 against the global average of 15:1.

He said the rapid expansion of higher education sector has also led to shortage of faculty.