Go to the main page

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

JEE: Can XII marks be comapred across the boards? IIT fiur fold fee hike

Hindustan Times :: 15 September 2011

Common engg test from 2013

Prasad Nichenametla, Hindustan Times | New Delhi, September 14, 2011

If a proposal by the HRD ministry is accepted by states, a single entrance examination will land an engineering aspirant in an IIT or any of the street corner technical colleges that have mushroomed across in the country, from 2013. A countrywide common examination for admission to

undergraduate programmes in engineering, as recommended by T Ramasami committee, was discussed at length in the IIT council meet on Wednesday.

A single test is something that students and parents want. On an average, an engineering aspirant takes three tests — IIT-JEE for IITs, AIEEE for NITs and the state test.

"The burden of multiplicity of competitive examinations is causing immense stress, financial and otherwise on parents and students .... The proposal ... will reduce dependency on coaching by aligning to Class 12  syllabus," HRD minister Kapil Sibal said.

Weightage will be given to a student's Class 12 board examinations scores after statistical normalisation of scores vis-à-vis performance of students from other boards — CBSE or state. Then a single national examination would be conducted to test aptitude and advanced domain knowledge.

Sibal said the proposal — to be finalised in a month — will be put before the Central Advisory Board for Education and after taking the states on board, it will be implemented from 2013-14 academic year.

States like Gujarat expressed are ready but have riders. "We are prepared to tune our +2 course with the National Curriculum Framework. But CET should include the IITs. We also want the CET to be conducted in Gujarati also," Hasmukh Adhia, principal secretary, higher education, Gujarat told HT.    

But officials, academicians   from Andhra Pradesh — hub of engineering education in the country — expressed doubts. "Do we use the same weighing machine for both gold and iron. The approach and orientation to IITs is different. CET will put a large bunch of students in same bracket making it difficult to decide who should enter which institute," a official said.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Common-engg-test-from-2013/Article1-745770.aspx

Times of India :: 15 September 2011

IITs seek fee hike and common test with NITs

Akshay Mukul, TNN | Sep 15, 2011

NEW DELHI: IIT Council on Wednesday decided to have a common  entrance test for IITs/NITs, state government-run and private engineering colleges throughout the country from 2013. It also decided to go in for a complicated fee hike structure. But there is a catch -- both the decisions are subject to approval from the state governments and the finance ministry. In case it does not meet the states' approval, only IITs/NITs - under the central government - would have a common entrance test.

The fee structure decided by the Council, the highest decision-making body of the IITs, is complex. While all students at the time of admission will pay the existing fee, after they pass out 25% of students (other than SCs/STs/OBCs) who can afford the hike of Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh suggested by Anil Kakodkar committee, would be made to pay the amount to their institutions in easy installments.

As to how it would be implemented, HRD minister Kapil Sibal said employers would pay to the IIT. Asked how this would be ensured, Sibal said under the proposed law that would allow dematerialisation of certificates in electronic format, employers would cross-check the validity of certificates from government and then they would be told to pay a part of salary directly to the institute.

But there were no clear answers to other questions: What happens to a student who starts his own business? What happens to students who join a foreign firm in a foreign country? One official asserted that the students would have to sign a bond at the time of admission.

Sibal said the payback by 25% students would not apply if he joins M.Tech and subsequently Ph.D. He would be charged only after he joins a firm. Exception would also be given to students who after Ph.D join the IIT faculty. Reason: There is a dearth of good faculty in IITs. But, Sibal said, the entire formulation on fee has to meet the approval of finance ministry.

As for the common entrance test, what has been decided by the T Ramaswami committee is a new kind of Joint Entrance Examination where weightage would be given to class XII marks of students and a Scholastic Aptitude Test-kind of test. In fact, the committee has given various options and no final decision has been taken on which option will be adopted. Again, as Sibal said it had not been decided how much weightage would be given to class XII marks and the SAT-like test.

The marks scored by students in class XII would be `normalized' through a formula devised by experts of the Indian Statistical Institute. But the experts favoured the normalization system after doing a pilot study of only four out of 42 boards in the country. They studied the result patterns of CBSE, ISE, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal Boards.

It also needs to be pointed out that normalization as a method has been abandoned by BITS, Pilani, and even in the USA. Last year, when a committee on JEE reforms under D Acharya, director of IIT, Kharagpur, suggested normalization it was opposed by many state boards.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/IITs-seek-fee-hike-and-common-test-with-NITs/articleshow/9987131.cms

Tribune :: 15 September 2011

IIT Council wants one test for engineering colleges

Gives nod to four-fold fee hike at the premier institute

Aditi Tandon | Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 14: The IIT Council, the supreme decision-making body on matters concerning the premier institute, today took two major decisions — one to introduce a single entrance test for all engineering colleges across India by 2013 to de-stress students; another to raise annual fees at IITs from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh to ease the financial burden on themselves.

At the council meeting chaired by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, it was decided in principle that from 2013, admission to all engineering institutes — IITs, NITs, state and private — would happen through a single test which will generate a merit list based on combined weightages of the Class XII marks and aptitude test scores of students. The aptitude test will be part of the national test and will judge a student for analytical abilities and not subject knowledge. The test structure has been proposed by the Ramasamy panel whose report the government placed before the council today.

Sibal explained after the meeting, “We want to open all engineering colleges to the poorest of children and end the coaching business which only helps those who can pay.” The government has asked experts of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata, to evolve a formula whereby Class XII marks obtained by students across all 42 boards in India could be equalised. “The ISI has used past data of board results of the last four years to show that equalisation is possible. We can then decide what weightage to give to the Class XII marks and the aptitude test.” The single test proposal will now be discussed with states and then taken to the Central Advisory Board of Education, the highest decision-making body on education in India.

The second decision of the council is a nod to four-fold fee hike (from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh) at the IITs. Upon entry and during study period, a student would have to pay the existing Rs 50,000 annual fee. The balance Rs 1.5 lakh will be recovered later when he gets employed.

What is proposed?

·         No JEE for IIT entry once the proposal rolls by 2013

·         Single test proposal to be discussed with states

·         Final score to be based on Class XII, aptitude test scores

·         Fee to go up from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh a year in IITs

·         Students to pay Rs 50,000 annual fee as long as they study

·         Balance fee to be recovered once students find jobs

·         Fee hike proposal subject to Finance Ministry’s nod

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110915/main2.htm

Pioneer :: 15 September 2011

Common entrance test for engineering colleges from 2013

Wednesday, 14 September 2011| PNS

New Delhi: Engineering aspirants have reasons to rejoice. The IIT Council on Wednesday decided to hold one all India entrance aptitude test by 2013-14, instead of the existing system of multiple exams for engineering colleges at State and Central level, including IITs. The Council’s decision is “subject to approval by the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) and clearance of the State Education Ministers”.

The council meeting presided by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal decided that an all India merit list would be prepared with weightage given to the marks obtained by the aspirant in Class XII Board examination on the basis of an equalisation formula worked out by the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) Kolkata. This would be supplemented by the marks acquired in the National Aptitude Test conducted on the lines of SAT. However, the quantum of weightage given to each is yet to be decided

The Council, which deliberated upon Dr Ramaswami report on JEE reforms, also decided to divert the focus of IIT from undergraduate courses to post-graduate and research-oriented to elevate the standards of premier institutes to “world class”.

“The basis for reform in the examination process that reduces dependency on coaching, aligning the testing process to Class XII syllabus, reducing the multiplicity of tests to one was considered,” Sibal said.

Further, based on the recommendations of the committee headed by Anil Kakodkar the Council decided to prepare a roadmap for taking IITs to global excellence. The Council decided to constitute an Empowered Task Force for implementation of the recommendations for enhancing the administrative and financial autonomy of the IIT system with respect to recruitments and topping up of salaries of faculties. “This was aimed at expansion of the research output of IITs to produce 10,000 PhD graduates annually which are presently about 1000,” Sibal pointed out.

The raise in fee structure from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh per annum would not be changed. “But this would be without causing hardship to students who are unable to afford,” said Sibal.

The entrance fee would continue to remain Rs 50,000 but students at the time of obtaining employment after passing out would enter into an agreement with the IIT for paying back the amount in installments within a time frame. Students who do not obtain any employment or who proceed for a career in research shall not be expected to arrive at such agreement.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/6404-now-common-entrance-aptitude-test-for-iit.html

Telegraph :: 15 September 2011

IIT plan to limit subsidy  

BASANT KUMAR MOHANTY

New Delhi, Sept. 14: The IIT Council today decided that subsidy on tuition fees for BTech courses should be given only to those students who pursue research and take up teaching jobs. The council, chaired by human resource development minister Kapil Sibal, considered the report of the Anil Kakodkar committee which had suggested that operational costs for running the four-year courses should be covered by raising fees.

Students now pay Rs 50,000 as annual tuition fee. The operational cost per student comes to about Rs 2 lakh a year.  The council today decided that from 2013, students would have to pay the balance Rs 6 lakh if they take up a non-teaching job after graduation.

Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students, who do not have to pay any fees now, and students from poor families, who are on scholarship or have been granted interest subsidy loans, will, however, be exempt.

Students who study for MTech and PhD and take up teaching after that would not have to pay the Rs 6 lakh.

“The intention is to attract IIT students to teaching and research,” Sibal said, adding they expected the number of PhDs to go up from 1,000 a year now to 10,000 in 2020.

The government will track each BTech graduate through its proposed electronic database of certificates. The ministry has prepared a draft National Academic Depository bill that could be introduced in the winter session.

“We hope the national depository will be in place by 2013. Once the certificates are put in DMAT format, we will know if any student is joining any job after completion of the course. Then we will ask the employer to pay Rs 6 lakh to the IIT for that student,” Sibal said.

The decision will have to be approved by the finance ministry. Academic Prof. Yashpal welcomed the idea: “This is a good decision which aims to attract BTech holders to teaching and research.”

Single exam: The council also agreed that there should be a single entrance test for all engineering institutes from 2013. The proposed single exam will give weightage to Class XII marks.

Since there are about 40 senior secondary boards with different assessment systems, a committee under science and technology secretary T. Ramasami has suggested a formula for normalisation of marks.

“The formula is based on percentile system under which the score obtained by the topper of each board will be considered 100 per cent and, accordingly, the score of other students would be calculated,” IIT Guwahati director Gautam Baruah said.

Sibal said he would take up the matter of a single exam with states before a “final decision”.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110915/jsp/frontpage/story_14509444.jsp  

Times of India :: 15 September 2011

Decks cleared for IIT-D campus in Haryana

TNN | Sep 15, 2011

NEW DELHI: NEW DELHI: The proposal to set up a second campus of IIT-Delhi in Haryana was cleared by the IIT council on Wednesday. The proposed 'Extension Centre', spread across 100-acre, would have advanced research facilities. Haryana offered to provide land free of cost for this project. Sources said the centre could come up in Bahadurgarh or its adjoining areas so that it remains close to the capital.

Though there were reports of the state being keen to take the centre to Rohtak, it has not found favour since the city is far away from the national capital. "We are assessing where such a chunk can be easily acquired for the institute," said a senior official of the Haryana government.

Surendra Prasad, director, IIT-Delhi, said, "We were just waiting for the IIT council to approve the second campus before we could zero in on any location. Since the council has now given a go-ahead, we will start working on finalizing a good location."

Established in 1961, the IIT-Delhi campus in Hauz Khas has the smallest area - 320 acre - as compared to other IITs. A second campus was in the offing for the last many years and even Greater Noida was once being considered as an ideal place.

Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda, who attended the meeting, said setting up of IIT Extension Centre would set new benchmark in the development of educational infrastructure in the state. Haryana recently got institutions like Indian Institute of Management, a central university, a National Defence University and Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology. The state has 21 universities and about 1,286 institutions of higher education

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Decks-cleared-for-IIT-D-campus-in-Haryana/articleshow/9986944.cms

Hindustan Times :: 15 September 2011

Four fold fee hike in IIT fee soon

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times | New Delhi, September 14, 2011

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Council on Wednesday decided on a four times hike in fees from 2013 onwards for students who are not from economically and socially backward classes. But, the extra fee will have to be paid once students get a job.
The annual fee that the students pay for the four-year Bachelors of Technology (B.Tech) course is R50,000. The IIT council gave in principle agreement to increase the fees to Rs2 lakh per annum from 2013.

The increase in fees will not be charged during academic year. “Only when a student is gainfully employed, except as faculty or in research, the extra amount will have to be paid back in installments,” said HRD minister Kapil Sibal.

The decision will impact about 25% admissions in IITs. The increase will not apply to students from reserved categories. The government will also pay the extra fees for students whose parents' yearly income is less than Rs4.5 lakh.  

For the rest, Sibal said, "It will be responsibility of the employer to pay back the remaining fees.” Each student will have a DMAT system, modalities will be worked out in the next one year.

The decision is based on the report of Anil Kakodkar on taking IITs to Excellence and Greater Relevance submitted in April this year. The panel had made several recommendations on providing administrative and financial autonomy to the IITs which was discussed at the council meeting.

The committee recommended upfront increase in fees which the council rejected and decided for the payback system.

The ministry will notify the final decision only after approval of the finance ministry. “As the decision has financial implications finance ministry’s approval will be required,” Sibal said.   

The council also decided to set up a task force to look into the issue of suicides in the IITs and recommend preventive steps to check it. The council also approved IIT-Delhi's proposal to have extension campus in the NCR.

 http://www.hindustantimes.com/Four-fold-hike-in-IIT-fees-soon/H1-Article1-745773.aspx

Times of India :: 14 September 2011

JEE reforms meet today, IIT chiefs hold the key 

Akshay Mukul, TNN | Sep 14, 2011

New Delhi: On the eve of the crucial Indian Institutes of Technology Council meeting on Wednesday, the panel headed by T Ramasamy, secretary in the department of science and technology held a last-minute meeting on Tuesday to finalize its proposal on Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) reforms.

Sources said clarity is still eluding the panel. The central theme of the Ramasamy Committee report is to make Class XII marks the basis of admissions apart from the entrance test, a source said.

Ramasamy is likely to make a presentation before the Council. Any decision would hinge on what the IIT Council thinks about the recommendations. Ultimately, the IIT directors would take a call. So far, we don’t seem to be reaching anywhere. We also have to take a decision on recommendations of the Anil Kakodkar Committee that suggested fee hike and greater autonomy, an IIT director said.

Making Class XII results the basis of admission would be done by bringing at par marks scored across various boards.

But statistical experts assisting the Ramasami Committee have said there is poor correlation among the marks scored across boards. A natural inference of the statistical analysis is that the marks, scored across boards, cannot be compared.

Consequently, normalization and any percentile-based scheme, as used in Innovation in the Science Pursuit for Inspired Research fellowship (INSPIRE) of the department of science and technology, will be discarded.

Recently, even five Indian Institutes of Science Education & Research (IISER) used INSPIRE based percentile scheme for their common admissions.

Normalization for selection /admission has been rejected by institutes like Union Public Service Commission, BITS, Pilani and Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering.

It is also being pointed out that using Class XII marks in selection criteria would led to a fiasco as witnessed by the DU,where cutoffs went up to 100%.  

The Delhi High Court is also all set to hear the PIL on JEE reforms.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/JEE-reforms-meet-today-IIT-chiefs-hold-the-key/articleshow/9978052.cms

Pioneer :: 14 September 2011

JEE Format rejig: Ramasamy report suggests single test

Wednesday, 14 September 2011| PNS

New Delhi : As a precursor to the proposed IIT council meeting to be chaired by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday finishing touches to the much awaited Dr Ramaswamy report on the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Reforms committee were given on Tuesday.

The meeting headed by DrT Ramaswamy, secretary, Department of Science and Technology and JEE Reform Committee chairman, was held with the Indian Statistical Institute experts from Kolkata along with the chairmen of JAB 2011 and 2012, Prof SG Dhande, Prof Surendra Prasad respectively on Tuesday.

According to sources Dr Ramaswamy will present his conclusive report on JEE reforms in the forthcoming IIT Council meeting which will then be put before the stakeholders (including IIT Directors, and the public) for getting the feedback.

Dr Ramaswamy committee is taking the suggestions from the ISI experts to consider how the marks obtained in Class 12 examinations can be “normalised”.

The sources informed that the statistical experts from ISI Kolkata through analysis of Class 12 marks of various boards have concluded that the marks scored across the boards can not be compared as there was hardly any correlation among the marks scored by the candidates from the various boards.

Hence, they have discarded normalisation as well as any Percentile (Rank) based Scheme, as used in DST’s Innovation of Science Pursuit for Research (INSPIRE) which unlike JEE is not competitive.

Sources pointed out that the solution was likely to be based on a single examination in Maths, Physics, and Chemistry (may be with an Aptitude test), and then having a merit list having dual ranks — one each for state and national levels — for admissions to state and national level college, as recently ordered by the Apex Court for admissions in all central and state medical colleges. The Ramaswamy committee was formed in September 2010, submitted its interim report in March this year.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/6192-jee-format-rejig-ramaswamy-report-suggests-single-test.html 

Tribune :: 14 September 2011

Common entrance test for UG courses IIT Council meets today to discuss proposal

Aditi Tandon | Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 13 : The government-appointed panel working on the structure of the proposed common entrance test for admission to undergraduate (UG) courses across India will submit its report to the HRD Ministry tomorrow.

The report will be discussed in the crucial IIT Council meeting which will also take up for deliberations the recommendations of the Kakodkar Committee which has suggested that the annual fee at the IITs be hiked from Rs 50,000 to around Rs 2.5 lakh and another proposal to set up a task force to curb suicides in IITs.

But a more important item on the agenda of the council which HRD Minister Kapil Sibal heads would be the Ramasamy Committee report on the format of the common entrance exam for entry to the university system.

As reported by The Tribune, the HRD Ministry is hopeful of conducting the test for the first time in 2013. Sibal has already hinted that the exam structure would be broadly based on two elements - the score of a student in class XII and his score in a SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test as practiced in the US)-type exam.

While class XII results would test the students’ academic abilities, SAT would test his general attributes instead of domain knowledge. On the basis of the two scores, an all-India merit list would be prepared and every student would enter college or a university depending on his position in that list.

But before presenting his report to the council tomorrow, T Ramasamy, Secretary, Science and Technology, and Chairman, JEE Reform Committee, reportedly held discussions with experts from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, who have concluded through intensive analysis of class XII standard marks of various boards that there existed a poor correlation among marks scored across boards though there existed a correlation among a board’s marks across the years. The experts inferred that marks scored across boards cannot be compared or normalised effectively.

How the council and IIT leaders resolve the issue tomorrow remains to be seen.

Earlier, the JEE reform panel headed by IIT Kharagpur Director Damodar Acharya had recommended class XII marks for selection to engineering institutes. But there were apprehensions that such a system would result in the cut-off fiasco as recently witnessed in Delhi University’s admissions where cutoffs soared to 100 pc.

The Acharya report was junked by most state boards on grounds that class XII marks cannot be effectively normalised and add-on tests for IITs (which Acharya recommended over and above a national common test) would lead to such tests by other institutes as well.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110914/nation.htm#16

Mail Today :: 14 September 2011

IIT Council to discuss single admission test

Mail Today Bureau, New Delhi, September 13, 2011

IIT Council, the highest decision-making body of the IITs, will meet on Wednesday to discuss replacing the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and other engineering tests with a single national examination.

Science and technology secretary T. Ramaswami will make a presentation on the issue to all IIT directors at the meeting.

A high-powered committee under Ramaswami has been charged with the responsibility of recommending reforms in the IIT-JEE to reduce financial and mental stress on students. The final report is yet to be submitted.

The IIT Council meeting is also slated to discuss the increasing number of suicides by students on campus. This year, IITs have reported seven suicides already. The number of cases is the highest in the last five years. According to sources, the ministry is keen on forming a task force that will suggest systemic measures to address the issue.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/iit-council-to-discuss-single-admission-test/1/151050.html

Retired Judges advising litigants worrsome: DHC

Times of India :: 14 September 2011

Retired SC judges advising litigants worrisome: HC

Abhinav Garg, TNN | Sep 14, 2011

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Tuesday said the issue of retired judges of Supreme Court giving legal advice to litigants was a serious one.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna was hearing a plea of advocate Prashant Bhushan seeking a total ban on retired justices of the apex court handing out legal opinion.

The bench asked Bhushan to research into the issue and find if tendering legal opinion can be equated with "plead or act" - the latter is expressly barred by the Constitution. According to Bhushan, who is representing the NGO Common Cause in the PIL, former SC judges are violating the Constitution "in letter and spirit" by tendering legal opinion, which was being produced in courts and, now, even before investigative agencies. This, the petitioners argue, is done by litigants to overawe the agencies and courts and influence their findings or judgments.

Bhushan, who is also one of the key architects of the Jan Lokpal Bill and is pushing for greater judicial accountability, has further sought prohibition against private practice by retired judges from high courts and the apex court, who preside over tribunals or commissions and other quasi-judicial bodies.

The PIL highlighted how arbitration involves high-stake commercial cases where retired judges must not be permitted any role as long as they continue to chair tribunals.

Hearing the arguments, the bench stressed there was greater weight in Common Cause's second prayer relating to arbitration and said the issue needs to be examined in detail. Last year, the court had asked the central government to take a stand on the feasibility of retired judges giving advice to litigants or doing arbitration work.

Bhushan referred to the ongoing 2G case and another highstakes gutka matter going on in the SC where retired judges of the apex court have given legal opinion to private parties. "Courts shouldn't be overawed by retired judges. This needs to be stopped," the lawyer said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Retired-SC-judges-advising-litigants-worrisome-HC/articleshow/9975906.cms

No degree for IISER's pass-outs; IISER cutoffs;No Quota for Faculty

Times of India :: 12 September 2011

RS disruption costs students their degrees

Future Tense : Disruptions Stall Plan To Make IISER Part Of NIT, 80 Youths To Miss Degrees

Akshaya Mukul, TNN | Sep 12, 2011

NEW DELHI: Frequent disruptions and non-functioning of Parliament has cost more than 80 students of the prestigious Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER) in Pune and Kolkata dear.

IISERs were to be made part of the National Institutes of Technology Act but the amendment bill could not be passed in Rajya Sabha after receiving the nod in Lok Sabha. The immediate fallout is that students of the two IISERs will not get their degree of Master in Science for which they toiled for five years.

The IISERs in Pune and Kolkata were opened in 2006 as centres of excellence to promote study and innovation in science. In Pune, 42 students took admission while 44 did so in Kolkata. In 2007, IISER was opened in Mohali and in Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram in 2008.

V S Rao, officiating registrar of IISER, Pune, told TOI, "Students in both the institutes have been given provisional certificates. Out of 42 students in Pune, 40 have got jobs and admission for further studies but the final certificate will be needed. Sanjay Dhande, director, IIT-Kanpur and senate member of IISER, Pune, said, "A way out has to be found. Future of students will suffer.

An official said what students have been given provisionally is only a certificate and not a degree that was promised.

On its part, the HRD ministry is contemplating an ordinance. Legal opinion is being sought, sources said. But IISER-Kolkata's claim on its website that it is an autonomous institution awarding its own degrees has created confusion. Right now all IISERs are registered societies and cannot award degrees on their own.

"What IISER-Kolkata is claiming is a misnomer, an official said. Educational institutes established through an Act of Parliament (like IITs, NITs, AIIMS), or having a university (may be deemed, to be deemed etc) status from UGC or state governments can award degrees.

IIMs also do not award degrees as they are a registered society. They award post-graduate diplomas, considered equivalent to master's degree in management. But since the entry level requirement is of a degree, IIM passouts are eligible for competitive examinations like civil services as for many jobs and visa requirements. What IISER students have is just a class XII certificate till formal degree is awarded.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/RS-disruption-costs-students-their-degrees/articleshow/9949582.cms

Pioneer :: 12 September 2011

IISER students left in lurch as House turns down NIT Act

Sunday, 11 September 2011 | Moushumi Basu | New Delhi

The non-passage of the NIT Act (Amendment) Bill 2011 in Rajya Sabha has come as a blow to the students of the Indian Institute of Science, Education & Research (IISER), Pune and Kolkata. The first batch of these students who completed their five -year course in 2011 summer, are now left in the lurch without any degree.

The experts pointed out that these institutes cannot award degrees as the NIT (Amendment) Bill 2011 was not passed. Institutes, only established through an act of Parliament (like IITs, NITs), or having a University (may be deemed, to be deemed etc.) status, from UGC or States, can award degrees, they pointed out. In fact the very purpose of the amendment was to include five IISER’s under the purview of NIT Act.

The first two IISERs at Pune and Kolkata were opened in 2006 as centers of excellence, mainly to promote study and innovations in Science. This was followed by IISERs at Mohali (2007), at Bhopal and Trivandrumin 2008.

The IISER’s have been touted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) as centers of excellence, to promote study and innovations in Science. The main thrust of IISERs has been to provide a 5-year master (MS) course in Integrated Science with the popular theme, “catch them young as India is a ware-house of Science talents.”

The sources reminded that IISERs started with the objective of “reaching the prestigious position in the global setting that IISc, IIMs and IITs enjoy. The institutions were to be made autonomous, awarding its own degrees with a prime focus to integrate science education and research, with a motive of attracting bright students and world class faculty.”

Experts also questioned the five year long delay on the part of MHRD to take a decision on the issue and move it in the Parliament when the future of several students was involved.

Now with the falling-out of the NIT Bill, the IISERs pass-out are left only with a Certificate, in lieu of a degree, which is contrary to an MS degree as promised in IISER’s mission.

A passout from IISER on the condition of anonymity pointed out that “unlike IIM candidates who are already a graduate while appearing for the entrance test, the students of IISER are merely Class 12 pass -outs and now in absence of a degree we are left groping in the dark”. “There is uncertainty when the amendment is passed and till then, in absence of a graduate equivalent degree how can we pursue our careers in higher studies or apply for jobs?” questioned another.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/5645-iiser-students-left-in-lurch-as-house-turns-down-nit-act.html

Tribune :: 12 September 2011

House disruption hits education reforms

After the end of Parliament’s monsoon session, 13 HRD Bills are still pending

Aditi Tandon | Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 11: The country’s education reform agenda has been hit hard by the continued disruption of parliamentary proceedings. At the end of the monsoon session — the eight session of the 15th Lok Sabha that commenced in June 2009 — as many as 13 Bills of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) were pending at various stages.

Among those pending are some very significant ones including the Bill to set up educational tribunals for out-of-court redress of educational disputes; another to amend the 2007 National Institutes of Technology (NIT) Bill to strengthen these premier technical institutions and grant national status to five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) at Mohali, Kolkata, Bhopal, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram to enable them to confer degrees; another to amend the RTE Act to include disabled children in the definition of the disadvantaged.

The non-passage of the NIT Bill means IISERs can’t award degrees as they are not governed by an Act of Parliament. The move endangers the future of students of IISERs Kolkata and Pune which started functioning in 2006.

Picture this: in the 26-day monsoon session, only one Bill — The National Council for Teacher Education Amendment 2010 (of the seven listed for consideration) — was passed by both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. This Bill empowers the NCTE to lay down uniform teachers’ qualifications for schools across India in the wake of the RTE Act.

That apart, even the most urgent Bill replacing ordinance listed in this session — The Indian Institute of Information Technology Kancheepuram Bill 2011 (to accord national importance to this institute and recognise degrees awarded to its first batch which enrolled in 2007) — could not be passed as the Upper House failed to take it up after the LS cleared it on August 25.

Since the Bill remains pending, the ordinance may lapse, forcing the HRD Ministry to find new way to safeguard students’ interests. Sadly, the Bill got stuck in the RS after Congress’ JD Seelam objected to the absence of a quota policy for faculty in institutes of national importance.

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal’s explanation that reservations existed only for students failed to calm frayed tempers of socialists, who quickly jumped on to the quota bandwagon and junked the Bill.

A similar fate awaited the Educational Tribunals Bill 2010 which the LS had passed on August 27 last year. Even this Bill had been thwarted in the RS by Sibal’s colleague Keshav Rao, who had wanted Sibal to honour parliamentary committee recommendations. A year on, the Rajya Sabha failed to take up the legislation even though the ministry had incorporated some parliamentary panel suggestions.

Status of 13 pending HRD Bills

Passed by LS; pending in RS

• Educational Tribunals Bill 2010
• Indian Institute of Information Technology, Kancheepuram Bill 2011
• Institutes of Technology Amendment Bill 2010
• National Institutes of Technology Amendment Bill 2010

Introduced / pending

• RTE Amendment Bill 2010
• Central Educational Institutes Amendment Bill 2010
• Copyright Amendment Bill 2010

Yet to be introduced

• Foreign Educational Institutes Bill 2010
• Prohibition of Unfair Practices Bill 2010
• National Accreditation Regulatory Authority Bill 2010
• National Council for Higher Education and Research Bill 2010
• Universities of Innovation Bill 2010

Introduced this session

• National Academic Depository Bill

Passed by both Houses this time

• NCTE Amendment Bill 2010

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110912/nation.htm#1