Search Results for ‘tuition’

Orissa Education and HRD related headlines from our sister site in Twitter

Our sister site in Twitter is http://twitter.com/orissalinks. (Often when we are busy or do not feel like writing a full posting here, we post a micro-blog in our Twitter sister site. The Twitter sister site also automatically adds the headline from this site and the orissagrowth site. Once in a  while we will collect those headlines here. But readers wanting a broader and more immediate coverage should consider following our Twitter site at http://twitter.com/orissalinks.) Following are some selected items from that site since July 12th.

August 20th, 2009

Top foreign universities with programs in India

Following is an excerpt from an article in TIME.

Carnegie Mellon, for instance, has for the past eight years offered a master’s program at the Chennai-based Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar School of Advanced Software Engineering. Students fork over $53,000 for the 18-month program — 15% lower than if the coursework were done in the U.S. They also spend the last six months at Carnegie Mellon’s Pittsburgh campus. The London School of Economics offers three-year undergrad degrees in economics, finance and management through the Indian School of Business and Finance (ISBF) in New Delhi, for a total tuition of $20,000, or one-fifth the standard cost. "Our students get a degree from a reputed foreign university at Indian rates, while LSE gets global reach," says ISBF director Jitin Chadha.

In Orissa, there is a beginning of a collaborative program in the recently established Asian Institute of Public Health. The foreign university involved there is the University of Maryland, Baltimore USA. That is the medical school campus of the University of Maryland. (I did my degree from the College Park campus of that University and the famous Orissa Physicist Jogesh Pati was also a faculty at the College Park campus.)

Among the above three collaboration it seems that the first two are more money-spinning type while the third (the one in Orissa) is a more collaborative partnership. The reason I say that is that in the third one joint research projects in Orissa funded by US agencies are involved. In the first two the modus operandi seems to be that the foreign university provide their name and course structure and hire locals to teach a big chunk of the course. 

August 1st, 2009

Swaminomics pushes the voucher idea

Following is from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Columnists/SA-Aiyar-An-open-letter-to-Kapil-Sibal/articleshow/4653435.cms.

SWAMINOMICS

Back to school: An open letter to Kapil Sibal

14 Jun 2009, 0031 hrs IST, Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar

 

Dear Kapil Sibal,

… for truly inclusive growth we must focus on improving basic education for the poor and historically disadvantaged classes. Poor people send their kids to government schools, but hardly any teaching takes place there, and the teachers are protected from disciplinary action by powerful trade unions. No chief minister dares antagonize these unions. Richer students supplement schooling with private tuitions, but this is unaffordable by poor students, who end up functionally illiterate after years of schooling. Lakhs of crores spent on education are wasted.

School vouchers can be one way forward. Parents can get outright grants per child in the form of school vouchers, which are redeemable only for expenses in a government or private school. Vouchers will empower poor people through choice in schools, just as democracy empowers them through choice in politics. Competition with private schools will improve government schools, just as competition from private airlines and banks have improved service in government airlines and banks.

But teachers’ unions hate competition or accountability, and oppose school vouchers. They also point out that the results of school vouchers in western countries have been mixed. In some states in the US, voucher students perform no better than those in government schools. In Sweden, on the other hand, voucher students fare distinctly better.

But in those countries, government teachers actually teach. This, alas, is not the case in India. And so desperate urban slum families are pulling their children out of free government schools and sending them to private schools, at great financial sacrifice. These private slum schools are hardly of high quality, yet are better than government schools having highly qualified teachers but little teaching. The very fact that slum-dwellers are sending kids to private schools in large numbers is the best evidence that private schools are better, whatever may be the experience in the US or Europe.

In Delhi, the Centre for Civil Society has started a small project offering school vouchers worth Rs 3,600 per year to 408 children. An independent evaluation shows that voucher children perform better in standardized tests than comparable children in neighbouring government schools; that parents find the teaching and infrastructure better in private voucher schools than government schools; and that over half the poor beneficiaries will be forced to send their children back to government school if the vouchers are withdrawn. This shows that vouchers are badly needed by the poor, and yield better results too.

The Delhi scheme is tiny. Some chief ministers have sought other ways to try and scale up vouchers. In Rajasthan, the former BJP government sought to persuade government teachers to start private schools, for which students would be given vouchers. Unsurprisingly, this failed to find many takers.

So, Kapil Sibal, let me propose an alternative. You should launch a pilot project, making funding available to states who are interested, and scale up after removing the inevitable glitches. The project should offer school vouchers to urban children of disadvantaged minorities — Dalits, tribals and Muslims. Only urban areas have multiple schools within walking distance of every locality, and that is a necessary condition for real choice.

Teachers’ unions will oppose this idea too. But their opposition will be muted since the benefits are limited to a small, historically disadvantaged section of the population. Besides, the idea will be supported by vote-banks of Dalits, tribals and Muslims, all of whom are wooed by politicians. Chief ministers will find it worthwhile to take on trade unions only if they are compensated by support from substantial vote banks.

In the Delhi scheme, activists spread information about vouchers in areas with 12 lakh citizens, of whom 1.2 lakh applied for vouchers. The vouchers were awarded through a draw of lots to a lucky few. Although only 408 children benefited, the project enthused over a lakh households, a number high enough to qualify as a vote-bank, and so interest politicians.

Teachers will see this as the thin end of the wedge, and launch agitations. One form of compromise could be to offer vouchers at least to girls from Dalit, tribal and Muslim families. Even the most cynical unions may feel ashamed of denying benefits to the most oppressed gender among the most oppressed classes.

Kapil Sibal, your new government is committed to affirmative action for the historically disadvantaged. This can be an excellent launching pad for school vouchers. Do not waste the opportunity.

I have written about this approach in the past. I think its time has come. An interesting fact not mentioned in the above article is that in many private schools teachers are paid less but the students do much better. A good example is the Sarasawti Sishu Mandirs. (Lets us ignore the religious organization behind those schools.)  So pumping money to primary education is by itself not enough; nor is the the "Right to education act." What is needed is the "Right to Choice of Education."

I slightly disagree with the suggestion that this has to start in the urban areas. i think pilots should also be done in rural areas as the fact that government will be providing vouchers might actually encourage private organizations to open schools in those areas. With PMGSY the private schools in rural areas may even provide transportation.

1 comment June 14th, 2009

My perspective on Vedanta University

I have been watching and collecting various reports on Vedanta University since an MOU was signed about it with the Orissa government. (See my collection here and here and also Vedanta University’s web page.)

After reading about the forced stoppage of the initiation of the building of Vedanta University, I thought I would write about my perspective on Vedanta University.

May I request you to bear with me on my thoughts on Vedanta University and read till the end of this document, even if you partly or fully disagree with me.

I think Vedanta University is a unique opportunity for Orissa and if we mess it up we will regret for ever and our future generation will not forgive us for this.

 
Why do I say that?

First I would urge you to watch the following two short videos and an audio interview available in the web:

 
 I know many of you have a lot of concerns and red flags about this endeavor and some of these concerns have been expressed in various Orissa newspapers. Let me try to address some of them based on my knowledge.

 Q 1: If many top universities are built on much less land, such as Harvard University, which is built only on 380 acres, why does Vedanta University need so much land. (It has now come down from 8000 acres to 6270 acres, but that is still quite large. 6270 acres is 25.374 sq km)

 Answer 1: Let us look at the layout below.

 The whole thing is 8000 acres. With the airport part gone it is 6270 acres. The ellipse like main university  (see picture below) part looks to be about 2000 acres and comparable to the size of IIT Kharagpur which is of 2100 acres but has only 6625 students . Note that IIT Bhubaneswar is being given 890 acres. So Vedanta University’s 2000 acres for 100,000 students is a very good use of land. Please watch the youtube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3B7L1S_MAY&fmt8 to get an idea how the buildings are proposed to be quite close to each other with very creative landscaping.

 Note that Harvard University with 380 acres supports 19,955 students. So Vedanta University proposing 5 times Harvard’s land for 5 times Harvard’s acreage is not unreasonable.

 Q 2: So if the main part of the Vedanta university is only about 2000 acres, what happens to the remaining 6270-2000= 4270 acres.

Answer 2: As is evident from the picture in the previous page there are 8 townships planned for those.

Q 3: If only 2000 acres goes to the university and 4270 acres goes to the townships, why not just focus on the university and ignore the township?

Answer 3: The townships are very important for making Vedanta University a top university at the level of Stanford and Harvard. Following is the reasoning behind it.

From Harvard University book at http://www.provost.harvard.edu/institutional_research/factbook.php ,

its income and expenses are as follows:

Income (2006-07): 3.21 Billion USD

Expenses (2006-07): 3.17 Billion USD

Total Endowment (June 30, 2007): 34.912 Billion USD

From Stanford University annual report at

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/businessaffairs/cgi-bin/downloadpdf_v3.php?file=AnnualReport_2007.pdf

its income and expenses for 2006-07 are as follows.

Income (2006-07): 3.2 Billion

Expenses (2006-07): 2.9 Billion USD

Total endowment (Aug 31, 2007): 17.2 Billion USD

In India the operating expenses for IISc Bangalore, the maximum among the IITs and IISc, in the last budget (item 41 of the Higher education budget) is 130 (plan) + 91 (non-plan) = Rs 221 crores. Rs 70 crore of that is for enhancing the number of students to account for the OBC quota.

For operating Vedanta University at the world class level a lot of money will be required. My guess would be that it will be somewhere in between the expenses at Harvard-Stanford ($2.9-$3.17 Billion = about Rs 15,000 crores) and at IISc Bangalore (221 crores). A good guess is that it will be around Rs 1000-1500 crores.

Mr. Agarwal has only pledged 1 Billion USD and most of it will go into just construction. The student tuition fees will not be enough to cover the Rs 1000-1500 crores needed to run the university.

In case of Harvard only 20% comes from student tuition and the student tuition mostly ranges from 30,000 USD/year to 40,000 USD/year. (This is Rs. 15 lakh/year – Rs. 20 lakh/year)

Vedanta University will not be able to charge that outside of medical students.

So there has to be other sources of money beyond the student tuition.

Since Vedanta University does not have an endowment, where will the additional money come from?

My guess is that it will come from the townships in the remaining 4270 acres.

Thus, I consider the townships to be crucial in achieving the dream of making Vedanta University a top world class university. (However we need to make sure that the money earned from the townships is put into an endowment for Vedanta University.) 

If there was no township, I would be very suspicious of Vedanta University’s claim that it will be a top world class university, as then it is not clear where the money would come from. (In this regard one must note that the best private institute in India, BITS Pilani, is nowhere in the world rankings. For that matter the IITs are quite low in the world rankings. What Vedanta University is aspiring is way above any existing institute in India and the existing financial model in private institutes such as BITS Pilani will not achieve what Vedanta University is aiming for.)

Q 4: So you are saying township is a crucial aspect of Vedanta University and 4270 acres goes towards that and only 2000 acres goes towards Vedanta University. Why do not then the Vedanta University officials make the township part clear?
 
Answer 4: They have.

If one goes to their web page they clearly say: "The campus will be developed in a phased manner to nurture a vibrant university township with a population of more than 500,000."

Q 5: Is there a top university which is similar to Vedanta University + associated townships in terms of land requirements.

Answer 5: Yes. Stanford University is made of 8180 acres (33.1 sq km) and does host a research park and other developments (including a mall), but not all of the land is currently built up though.

Other universities with large acreage include University of Michigan (20,965 acres), Texas A & M University (5,200 acres), and Ohio State University (15,893 acres).

Q 6: Is Vedanta University’s goal of 100,000 students reasonable.

Answer 6: Following are some large universities in the USA and their student size in Autumn 2007 as obtained from http://www.osu.edu/osutoday/stuinfo.php#enroll_large .

 
 
Student size
Times rank
SJT Rank
The Ohio State University

52,568                

121
62
Arizona State University, Main Campus
51,481
260
93
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
50,833
87
28
University of Florida
50,576
165
58
University of Texas, Austin
50,201
70
39
Texas A&M University, College Station
46,542
137
88
Michigan State University
46,045
203
83
Penn State University
43,232
105
42
University of Wisconsin, Madison
42,041
55
17
University of Illinois, Urbana
41,135
71
26
 

They are all pretty good universities, all of them ranked in the top 100 in the SJT ranking.

Q 7: How do we know that the University is not a ruse and Mr. Agarwal just wants the land?

Answer 7: Mr. Agarwal’s net worth in early 2008 was $6 Billion.(see http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Anil-Agarwal_WDNS.html )

 

His net worth in 2006 was $2.8 Billion. (see http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/10/WDNS.html )

Now what is the most important asset of a rich man? His reputation in the eye of the world.

Mr. Agarwal has told the whole world about his university.

Articles praising his pledge to donate $1 Billion towards Vedanta University have appeared in major national and international venues such as:

Time, USA –  http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100powergivers/article/0,28804,1616375_1615711_1615671,00.html

Economist – http://www.economist.com/people/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9539815

Independent, UK – http://news.independent.co.uk/education/higher/article3045374.ece

Forbes, USA – http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Anil-Agarwal_WDNS.html

Forbes Asia – http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/56/biz_philanthropy08_Anil- Agarwal_WDNS.html

PBS TV USA – http://www.charlierose.com/guests/anil-agarwal

He has met the Prime Minister of India and told him about his pledge to donate $1 Billion for the university.

I do not believe that after so much publicity Mr. Agarwal will back out, as he will lose face and that is the most important thing for a person of his net worth. (It should be noted that many billionaires, especially in the US, do make huge donations. Bill Gates donation of tens of billions USD and Warren Buffet’s donation of about $30 Billion are exemplars. In higher education, Leland Stanford established Stanford University and Andrew Carnegie established Carnegie Mellon University; both top universities now. )

However, if the current opposition continues, it is very much possible that at some point Mr. Agarwal may get fed up with the hurdles created by some people of Orissa and will move Vedanta University to a state (such as Gujarat, Andhra or Karnataka) where he will be welcomed.

Q 8: How come Gujarat, Andhra and Karnataka did not woo him earlier.

Answer 8: I do not know why. May be at that time they did not take him seriously and Orissa did. But now after the design of the university and lot of other groundwork has been done, they will woo him like anything.

In my opinion, Orissa lucked out that it signed the MOU in 2006. It also helped that Mr. Agarwal has other business in Orissa. But then many other companies, private and public have business in Orissa. How much have they given to Orissa in comparison? A good example is 12 crores by Tata Steel for the Inst. of Math and application, and few other smaller donations. Compare that to $1 Billion which is now Rs 5000 crores.

Going back to Gujarat, Andhra and Karnataka, we know what Gujarat did with respect to Nano. If given a small opening they will do the same with respect to Vedanta University.

Andhra Pradesh is in the process of developing Odyssey Science city with an area of 65,000 acres. The first phase is of 10,000 acres. Few months back Andhra CM signed a deal whereby APIC will acquire the land.(See http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/09/stories/2008010958760800.htm )  Given a chance Andhra Pradesh will pick up Vedanta University in a heartbeat. I am told that they already contacted Vedanta officials regarding that.

In Karnataka, the SAC-PM Chairperson Prof. C N R Rao is jealous of Vedanta University and is exhorting the Bangalore based IT companies to make similar contributions. In an Outlook article (see http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20071217&fname=Cover+Story+%28F%29&sid=2 ) he was quoted saying:

 

IT people have a responsibility that they are yet to fulfil. If they’re making so much money, why shouldn’t they create an outstanding private university equivalent to Stanford or Harvard? Had they done something like that they would have compensated for the other problems they have created. If IT people are making money, what do I get out of it, unless I am employed in Infosys with Narayana Murthy? The trouble is, we have given them a lot, but have got nothing in return.

 

Q 9: How does Vedanta University help Orissa and India?

Answer 9: Let consider the world ranking of universities. 

In the Times ranking at http://www.topuniversities.com/ the top ranked universities in the world and the top ranked universities in India and China are as follows:

 
1. Harvard, USA
2. Yale, USA
3. Cambridge, UK
4. Oxford, UK
 

154. IIT Delhi

174. IIT Bombay

242. IIT Kanpur

274. Delhi University

303. IIT Madras

50. Peking University, China
56. Tsinghua University, China
113. Fudan University, China
141. Univ of Sc. & Tech, China
143. Nanjing University, China
144. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ, China

In the SJT ranking at http://www.arwu.org/rank2008/Top500_EN(by%20rank).pdf  the top ranked universities and the top ranked universities in India and China are as follows:

 
1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Berkeley
4. Cambridge
5. MIT

303-401 IISc Bangalore, IIT Kharagpur

201-302 Nanjing University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ, Tsinghua University, Univ of Sc. & Tech, Zhejiang University

As the above shows, Indian Universities including IITs and IISc are way behind the top universities of the world. They are even much behind the top universities in China.

So what Vedanta is aspiring is to be a university ranked in the top 50 of these lists, if not in the top 25. If that is achieved it will have a huge impact on India, and not just Orissa.

There will be also a lot of impact on Orissa.

 

a. It will pull up the institutions near Vedanta University such as IIT Bhubaneswar, NISER

Bhubaneswar, the proposed world class central university (WCCU) in Bhubaneswar, IIIT Bhubaneswar, and even Utkal, Ravenshaw, OUAT, etc. The reason it will pull up the other universities is that many otherwise great professors, who will miss out getting a job at Vedanta, would like to be nearby Vedanta and thus would take a position in one of the above universities in the area. The reason they would like to be near Vedanta is that being nearby will allow them to collaborate with the faculty at Vedanta. For the same reason, many of the Ph.Ds coming out of Vedanta Universities would prefer to stay in the area universities.

Note that without Vedanta, IIT Bhubaneswar may end up among the bottom IITs, NISER Bhubaneswar may end up among the bottom IISER/NISERs and the WCCU Bhubaneswar may end up among the bottom WCCUs. This is evident from the admission numbers of IIT Bhubaneswar this year. In terms of student preferences it was only better than IIT Patna. See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1303 . This will not improve easily.

Moreover the existing IITs and central universities have been there for years and are established in terms of their infrastructure and they also get a lot of support (including cash donations) from their alumni. The new institutions in Bhubaneswar (IIT, NISER, WCCU) will normally take multiple decades to get to that level.

But with Vedanta University nearby, the situation would change; IIT Bhubaneswar could become among the top IITs; Same about NISER Bhubaneswar and WCCU Bhubaneswar. In other words, the establishment of Vedanta University has the possibility of turning the Puri-Bhuaneswar-Cuttack area a bigger knowledge hub than Pune and Bangalore.

b. With a top IIT, NISER and WCCU near Vedanta, the whole area from Cuttack-Puri will become a huge knowledge hub. Orissa will be able to go much beyond attracting WIPRO, TCS, Infosys, Satyam to attracting companies like Google, IBM, Microsoft etc. Currently such companies come mostly to Bangalore.

c. Recently Mr. Agarwal said that (see https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1105 ) they will work towards giving 25% seats to the students from Orissa who will be taken on merit basis. This means besides Vedanta University, they will invest in schools so that the above happens. They already have started in that direction by enrolling children of the area in DAV schools and funding their educational cost.

d. Vedanta University is starting off with a hospital and medical college. This will definitely benefit the locals.

e. Another way to look at Vedanta University’s impact is as follows.

It has been said that 3 Billion USD will be spent in making Vedanta University out of which one Billion USD will given by Mr. Agarwal. One Billion USD is Rs. 5000 crores. Recently the central government has announced IITs, IISERs, world class central universities, etc. and    the budget for making each of them has been announced. See   http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=37684 . The budget of a new IIT is 760 crores, new IISER is 500 crores, AIIMS is 332 crores, IIM is 210 crores, and world class central university is 720 crores. They add up to 2522 crores. In other words, with 5000 crores one can almost make 2 new IITs, 2 new IISERs, 2 new AIIMS, 2 new IIMs and 2 new world class central universities. And that is  what Orissa will lose out if it throws out Vedanta University.

 

Q 10. I am opposed to Vedanta’s mining activities. How can I support Vedanta University?

Answer 10: Even if one is opposed to Vedanta’s mining activities, he/she should not oppose having Vedanta University in Orissa as opposing Vedanta University for not liking its mining operation is like "cutting of the nose to spite the face."

 

Q 11. The MOU was signed in 2006. What has happened since then to indicate that Vedanta University is serious?

Answer 11: I do not know all that has happened, but let me elaborate on the design and architectural front. (In addition they have made progress in land acquisition, hired people in implementing R & R, hired architects and engineers etc.)

They have hired a top architecture company in the USA who has a track record of participating and shaping almost all major universities in the USA. The company is Ayers Saint Gross. Its web site is http://www.asg-architects.com/ . Following are some links to their web pages which refers to Vedanta University.

The design of the master plan of Vedanta University has been featured in many US architecture venues and it has also won some awards. Following are some links on that.

Some pictures of the designs are at http://chronicle.com/media/flash/v53/i45/vedanta/ and videos are at :

 

Besides the above architecture company, the other companies that Vedanta has hired include:

Most recently, they were ready to start construction but were turned away by about 500 people.

So that is part of their current status.

In summary, Vedanta University has the potential to turn the area from Cuttack-Puri into a bigger knowledge center than Bangalore and Pune and perhaps into the biggest knowledge center (with associate knowledge companies such as Google research, Microsoft Research, IBM research etc.) in India. As a result, it can completely change Orissa. (Imagine the impact if Bangalore was in Orissa.)

We should not play politics with it; otherwise like Tata Motors moving from Singur to Gujarat, Vedanta University will move to another state and for centuries our descendants will blame us for missing an opportunity that may come once in many centuries.

 

 

14 comments November 8th, 2008

Andhra Pradesh plans at least one university in each of its 23 districts

Following is an excerpt from a report in expressbuzz.

Detailing the steps being taken to develop the education system in the State, he said a university in each district, five medical colleges across the State, IIT and BITS near Hyderabad and law colleges were being set up.

Orissa should do the same with respect to its undivided 13 districts.

October 28th, 2008

AICTE voluntary scheme for tution fee waiver for women, economically backward, and physically handicapped meritorious students

Following is from http://www.dte.org.in/download%5CFee_Waiver_Scheme_AICTE.pdf. I hope the private and the government colleges adopt this scheme, at least in phases. Perhaps new private colleges need not have it for the first three years. Existing colleges could do it in two steps; start with 5% this year and then increase it to 10% in the next year.

 

No. 37-03/Legal/2007

ALL INDIA COUNCIL FOR TECHNICAL EDUCATION
NEW DELHI

Guidelines
Date: 09-04-2007

Sub:     Scheme on Tuition Fee Waiver scheme for women, economically backward and physically handicapped meritorious students.

The AICTE has been empowered under Section 10(e) of AICTE Act to formulate schemes for promoting technical education for women, handicapped and weaker sections of the society. In compliance with these provisions under the AICTE Act, it has been decided to introduce Tuition Fee Waiver scheme for women, economically backward and physically handicapped meritorious students in technical institutions.

I-Applicability:

The proposed scheme shall be applicable to the Students of all AICTE approved technical Institutions offering;

a)         Bachelors programmes in Engineering, Pharmacy, HMCT, Architecture and Applied Arts and Crafts.

b)         Diploma Programmes of three years duration in all disciplines.

The Scheme is proposed initially for Under-graduate and Diploma Programmes. The scheme will be voluntary in nature.

II-Purpose:

The scheme is proposed to provide Tuition Fee Waiver to women, economically backward and physically handicapped meritorious students pursuing degree/diploma level technical education covering degree programmes in Engineering & Technology, HMCT, Pharmacy, Architecture, Applied Arts and Crafts and Diploma Programmes in the above disciplines.

III-Amount of waiver:

The Waiver is limited to the tuition fee as approved by the State Level Fee Committee for self-financing institutions and by the Government for the Govt. and Govt. Aided Institutions. All other Fee except tuition fees have to be paid by the beneficiary.

IV-Method of implementation:

Under the Scheme, the Competent Authority for admissions shall be the same as for regular admissions. And Institutions shall provide tuition fee waiver up to 10 percent of its sanctioned intake of students. Typically for every 60 sanctioned intake in a branch/discipline of study, tuition fee waiver shall be given to two woman candidates, three economically weaker students (Annual income of Parents/Guardians less than Rs. 2.50 lakhs from all sources) and one physically handicapped students based on merit. In the event of non-availability of students in a specific category as above, the benefit will be given to any other candidate of other categories according to merit. An award letter is this respect shall be issued by the respective Institution with the approval of the Competent Authority for admissions.

The Institution in turn shall be allowed to admit 10% of its sanctioned intake or the number of actual tuition fee waiver granted by the Institution, whichever is lower, as an additional intake in the same discipline/branch of study.

Incase of Government/Govt. aided Institutions this additional intake may be on self-financing basis, if they so desire.

1                 The AICTE approved technical institutions shall inform the number of the tuition fee waivers, branch wise to the admission authorities of the concerned state and give an undertaking that the institution will not charge tuition fee for the duration of the course form the beneficiaries.

2                 The State Govts. Affiliating Universities of the concerned state shall allow equal number of seats over and above the present sanctioned strength subject to maximum of 10% of the approved intake in the same branch in lieu of the Tuition Fee Waivers. Private Institutions shall be allowed to admit students to the tune of the number of Tuition Fee waivers actually awarded from the same merit list as intake over and above the present sanctioned strength. Similarly the Government Institutions may fill up these additional seats on merit basis and if desired on self financing basis with the approval of the State Government.

3                 The Institution shall admit students against these seats as per the procedure followed for admitting the regular seats at Institution level by the State admission authority. The list of students admitted in this category shall be displayed in the Notice Board of the Institution and its web-site along with the list of students given tuition fee waiver.

4                 The State Govts. shall include the names of the institutions who have volunteered to avail the scheme with details of tuition fee waivers available in each institution branch wise in the admission brochure and publish the same for the benefit of the students.

5                 The Institutions have to publish in their brochure and website the number of tuition fee waivers available in each category (Woman, economically weaker and physically handicapped) of students in each discipline.

6                 The Competent Authority for admission shall have to display Tuition Fee Waiver status against each Institution, branch wise, to the candidates during the counseling, during admission and at the end of admission process so that the students can freely exercise their informed choice.

7                 The information on availability of tuition fee waiver scheme shall be provided to the candidates, institution wise and discipline wise through Information brochure, Counseling brochure and website etc. The selection of candidates for tuition fee waiver shall be decided during the Counseling based on merit from amongst the eligible candidates. An eligible candidate shall have an option to exercise his/her choice of Institutions and discipline of study during Counseling for availing benefits of the scheme.

                8.         The Institutions shall provide the following information to the AICTE, concerned State Govt. and affiliating University:

          Particulars of each beneficiary including name and rank of the students who have been granted tuition fee waiver in each discipline/branch of study, and

          Details of the students admitted against the additional seats including name and rank etc., according to merit prescribed for regular admission.

 

The Institutions shall also display such information in their websites for information to the students and other stake holders.

9.  The tuition fee waiver to a student shall be for the duration of the course i.e. four years for Bachelor courses in Engineering & Technology, Pharmacy, HMCT and Applied Arts and Crafts, and three years for Diploma students and five years for B. Arch course. Once a student is given Tuition Fee Waiver, the same shall be continued for the normal course duration.

(Dr. K. Narayana Rao) Member Secretary

*****

 

41 comments June 27th, 2008

Excerpts from “The Higher Educational Transformation of China and Its Global Implications”

Following are some excerpts from the paper "The Higher Educational Transformation of China and Its Global Implications" by Yao Li, John Whalley, Shunming Zhang, Xiliang Zhao.

… The number of undergraduate and graduate students in China has been grown at approximately 30% per year since 1999, and the number of graduates at all levels of higher education in China has approximately quadrupled in the last 6 years.

… Much of the increased spending is focused on elite universities, and new academic contracts differ sharply from earlier ones, with no tenure and annual publication quotas often used.

… The educational transformation underway in China seemingly differs from that in other low wage economies at either similar or earlier stages of development, in focusing heavily on tertiary education rather than on primary or secondary (unlike, say, India).

… A further feature of recent Chinese higher educational policy has been both to promote so-called "elite" universities and also to consolidate other universities and reduce their numbers.

…  The focus of policy is to elevate a small number of Chinese universities to world class status, and both strengthen them and make them bigger.

… In many of China’s major cities there has also been consolidation of universities, with, say, 4 or 5 small universities in the city consolidated into a large single entity as a way of improving their ranking.

… For example, Beijing Medical University was incorporated into Peking University and was formally renamed Faculty of Health Science,
Peking University in 2000. Eventually, the Central Arts and Design College was incorporated into Tsinghua University and was renamed Faculty of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University in 1999.

… institutions of high education in China are now subject to extraordinary pressures to upgrade themselves in terms of objective rankings. High priority is placed on international rankings taken as publications in international journals, citations, and international cooperation.

… It is now accepted as important for universities and related institutions to achieve publication in journals of good ranking and what is generated by publication citations counts equally for Chinese scholars in appointment, maintenance of position, and promotion.

… It is not uncommon for an annual target of three international publications to be set for faculty members, with termination of
employment to occur on non fulfillment.

… The primary stress on education attainment is on traditional academic disciplines, especially sciences, but social sciences and business also enter.

… There are three separate sources–government funds, commercial income fiom university-owned companies and entities, tuition and other educational charges such as fees paid by students and parents, …

… In 1998 under a special "985" I’roject,l4 10 of China’s leading universities were given three-year grants in excess of 30 billion RMB (current price) for quality improvements (Wang, 2002). Included in the first round of 985 Project grants were Peking, Tsinghua, Fudan, Zhejiang, and Nanjing Universities. l5 Peklng and Tsinghua universities, the top two ranked institutions, each received 1.8 billion RMB. Afterwards, the Ministry of Education cooperated with provincial or municipal governments and other departments to also develop Shanghai Jiaotong University, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Science and Technology University of China and Harbin Industry University …

… In addition to government funding, higher education institutions in China, also generate significant support by engaging in commercial activities. These include companies and other entities owned by the institutions and which the institutions operate.

… Table 9: Education funding for elite universities in China (2004)

… The main tasks for the higher educational development strategy in the 1 lth 5-Year Plan are as follows. The gross enrollment rate of higher education is to reach 25% of each entering age cohort by 2010 and the total enrollment of higher education is to hit 30 million.

… The "211 Projects" and "985 Project" are to be continued, with an emphasis on technology innovation, cultivating talents with creativity, and improving the capacity for self-innovation, so that top universities in China become an important force in an increasingly innovative nation.

… The educational component of the llth 5-Year Plan is clear in providing for large injections of funds into China’s tertiary educational system. Education is a major focus over the 5 year period of the plan, with the proportion of education expenditures to GDP increasing to 4% in 2010, from 3.4% in 2002. Much of the additional spending is focused on the elite universities, a group of around 20 universities in China, which are thought to have the best students and the capability to grow and mature into major global educational institutions which are comparable to those in the OECD. The research component of university activities is also seen as a central element in generating new ideas and eventually process and production methods which will improve profitability. Educational improvement in both research and student generation is thus seen as a central element of a continued high Chinese growth process.

… The prime emphasis which is now placed on international publications in China has already resulted in large increases in paper submissions to international journals and paper submissions are likely to grow further in the next few years. According to a recent study "Key Figures 2007 on Science, Technology and Innovation", China is now one of the largest producers of scientific output as measured by its share in the world total of peer reviewed scientific articles.

… Evaluated by the most frequently cited papers, China is ranked seventh, lower than South Korea, but still higher than other large developing economies, such as India and Brazil.

… The contractual arrangements in universities in China are a further element of China’s educational transformation, and portend future global change.

… , the tenure system for professors in universities and colleges has been changed significantly. The first changes were made by Peking University in reforming its deep-rooted academic tenure system, and this was followed by other Chinese elite universities. These reforms were implemented in February 2004. Taking Pelung University as an example, the reforms are that only professors enjoy lifelong employment, and the university does not offer tenured positions to associate professors, lecturers and assistant professors. Associate professors in arts and sciences and lecturers in all subjects are offered employment contracts up to 12 years. If associate professors and lecturers fail in their promotions after appraisal and examination of their academic attainments within the contracted period, they are dismissed.

… It is now common for researchers and scholars in many Chinese universities to receive only 3 year contracts and these contracts differ sharply by individual circumstance. And individuals receiving contracts are often given quotas in terms of the number of the publications in designated journals which should be attained within a limited period of time. It is not uncommon for these quotas to specify 3 papers per year in international journals, although what is accepted as an international journal varies sharply from institute to institute.

April 3rd, 2008

More on the upcoming Sai International School

Following are excerpts from a New Indian Express report.

… SAI International School, the first corporate- style institute of the State. Every classroom will be equipped with computers with broadband connectivity and big display units. Specially crafted education management software will give parents an opportunity to monitor the progress of their wards through the Internet. All in all think of the Eton College and you get all its good attributes here. The school is being set up by the JSS Group close to Infocity here.

Classes will commence next academic session, from creche to class VII. It would be extended up to class XII later. The school will follow CBSE curriculum, however, with a blend of both US and British syllabuses. Renowned UK-based LaurelsGlobal institute will be closely collaborating with SAI International School on the academic front.

Sources said, the school has forged an understanding with well-known institutions of similar stature across the country for seamless migration of students.

Incorporation of best of the international curriculum would also help students coming from abroad integrate with the courses here with ease. But the school will not have residential facilities.

Adhering to the Yashpal Committee recommendations, the management has decided to do away with school bags up to class III. Lockers will be provided to all students. Classroom teaching will be uploaded to interactive website and parents can have access to real time teaching.

… The promoters said, the location, plus the international feel, would meet one of the key demands of the IT workforce here for such a school in the city.

"In the event of them shifting abroad, their wards would have little trouble adjusting to the new atmosphere," they underlined.

The tuition fee would also be within the reach of Government employees and parents engaged in other sectors, they claimed.

Comprehensive health check-up of all the students would be carried out for which the school has forged tieups with corporate hospitals here.

Health report will be sent to parents every quarter along with other reports. The menu has been designed by dietary consultant of Australia.

 

29 comments October 13th, 2007

NISER Bhubaneswar instructions for the second list of candidates

The following is from a NISER announecment.

 

The admission process for the second list will begin on 17th September, 2007 at
10.00 a.m. The classes have been going on since 12th September, 2007. It is therefore desired that the students should take admission at the earliest and begin their academic activity without delay. The admission process will come to close on 27th September, 2007.

Students have been allotted the stream of their first choice provisionally. The final allotment of streams will be done at the end of the first year based on their overall academic performance in semester I and semester II.

Students will receive scholarship at the rate of Rs. 3,000/-per month.

All the students will have to register for all the courses which are to be credited by all the entrants to NISER’s 5-year integrated M.Sc. programme. The details of course descriptions are being posted in the webpage of NISER.

All the students are required to bring with them at the time of admission the originals of the following documents:

                    (a) Class X and Class XII Mark Sheets,

                    (b) Class X certificate,

                    (c) Caste / Tribe certificate (in case of SC/ST candidates).

In addition they should also bring four passport size photographs and two stamp size photographs and a Demand Draft for Rs. 13,000/= (Rs. 7,000/-for SC/ST students) towards payment of tuition fee, caution money and mess advance. The DD should be drawn in favour of NISER, payable at Bhubaneswar.
Hostel accommodation

All the students will be provided hostel accommodation. They are expected to register for the hostel accommodation at the time of admission. Details about the availability of hostel accommodation for boys and girls will be posted on the web soon.

 

 

September 17th, 2007

Urgent important information and instruction from NISER, Bhubaneswar

The following is from http://www.iopb.res.in/niser/important.html.

All the students selected for admission to NISER are requested to reach Bhubaneswar positively on 9th September 2007. They will be provided temporary accommodaion within Institute of Physics campus. Accompanying parents/ guardians will also be provided accommodation within the campus.

Please note that there will be general strike on 10th September 2007. However, work within the IOP campus, both for NISER admission and inauguration of NISER Academic Programme will be held on 10th September 2007 as announced earlier.


The Orientation classes will be held on 11th Sept. 2007 followed by medical examination by Institute Doctor.

Regular classes will start on 12.09.2007 at 08:00 Hrs.

Break-up of charges to be paid at the time of admission to NISER

  General SC/ST
Tuition Fee Rs. 6,000
Caution Money (Hostel) Rs. 1,000 Rs. 1,000
Caution Money (Laboratory) Rs. 1,000 Rs. 1,000
Caution Money (Library) Rs. 1,000 Rs. 1,000
Mess Advance Rs. 4,000 Rs. 4,000
  ————— —————
Total Rs. 13,000 Rs. 7,000

List of materials to be carried by the student for staying in the hostel

Students will be provided a cot with mattress and pillow, one study table with chair and one medium sized almirah for storage. They should bring their own linen, pillow cover, towel, mosquito-net, curtain, bucket, glass etc. for their own use.

1 comment September 4th, 2007

NISER Bhubaneswar list of successful candidates and admission information

The following is from the NISER web pages, particularly from this page.

General information regarding admission

Admission and registration to NISER is scheduled on 10th Sept. 2007 at 10 a.m. The inauguration of the academic programme of NISER will be held at 5 p.m. on 10Sept. 2007. Students have been allotted the stream of their first choice provisionally. The final allotment of streams will be done at the end of the first year based on their overall academic performance in semester I and semester II. Students will receive scholarship at the rate of Rs. 3,000/-per month.
All the students will have to register for all the courses which are to be credited by all the entrants to NISER’s 5-year integrated M.Sc. programme. The details of course descriptions are being posted in the webpage of NISER.

All the students are required to bring with them at the time of admission the originals of the following documents:

                    (a) Class X and Class XII Mark Sheets,

                    (b) Class X certificate,

                    (c) Caste / Tribe certificate (in case of SC/ST candidates).

In addition they should also bring four passport size photographs and two stamp size photographs and a Demand Draft for Rs. 13,000/= (Rs. 7,000/-for SC/ST students) towards payment of tuition fee, caution money and mess advance. The DD should be drawn in favour of NISER, payable at Bhubaneswar.

The selected students are required to deposit tuition fee and other charges latest by September 14, 2007 failing which they will forfeit their seat in NISER.
Hostel accommodation
All the students will be provided hostel accommodation. They are expected to register for the hostel accommodation at the time of admission. Details about the availability of hostel accommodation for boys and girls will be posted on the web soon.

 
 

Admission list for NISER 2007 -08

 
 
Rank
Dt. of Int.
Name
Town
Category
Gender
General / Open Category
1
27/08/07
Siddharth Satpathy
Bhubaneswar
Gen
M
2
28/08/07
Alokananda Ray
Kolkata
Gen
F
3
30/08/07
Sailen Kumar Bana
Ganjam
Gen
M
4
27/08/07
Amritansh Vats
Deoghar
Gen
M
5
27/08/07
Manoranjan Mishra
Sambalpur
Gen
M
6
29/08/07
Jayanth K. Ajay
Thrissur
Gen
M
7
30/08/07
Mahima Sneha
Ghaziabad
Gen
F
8
31/08/07
Ved Prakash
Ranchi
Gen
M
9
31/08/07
Sharmistha Sahoo
Cuttack
Gen
F
10
29/08/07
Ashish Kumar Pandey
Ballia
Gen
M
11
31/08/07
Sambhab Mohapatra
Bhubaneswar
Gen
M
12
29/08/07
Anshuman Kumar
Patna
Gen
M
13
31/08/07
Subhransu Sekhar Sahoo
Jajpur
Gen
M
14
27/08/07
Debajyoti Manadhata
Bhubaneswar
Gen
M
15
28/08/07
Adithya Kuchibhotla
Secunderabad
Gen
M
16
30/08/07
Neeraj Kumar Rai
Itarsi
Gen
M
17
31/08/07
Simrit Kaur Arora
Delhi
Gen
F
18
27/08/07
Deovrat
Ranchi
Gen
M
19
27/08/07
Mohit Soni
Ajmer
Gen
M
20
30/08/07
Parul Sood
Chamba
Gen
F
21
31/08/07
Sneha Chaubey
Ranchi
Gen
F
22
29/08/07
Gyanadutta Swain
Jajpur
Gen
M
23
31/08/07

Swagat Sanket Priyadarsini

Khurda
Gen
M
24
31/08/07
Vaisakh Mohan K.
Thrissur
Gen
M
25
27/08/07
Arnab Saha
Bhubaneswar
SC
M
26
28/08/07
Udaya Maurya
Jabalpur
Gen
M
27
30/08/07
Monalisa Behera
Bhubaneswar
Gen
F
28
31/08/07
Somnath Chakraborty
Bhubaneswar
Gen
M
29
30/08/07
Riju Banerjee
Kolkata
Gen
M
30
30/08/07
Rohit Pathak
Bahraich
Gen
M
31
31/08/07
Sayani Mukherjee
Hooghly
Gen
F
 
 
 
PD Category
 
 
 
58
27/08/07
Mritunjay Kumar Verma
 
Ballia
Gen / PD
M
ST Category
 
35
27/08/07
Bhupendra Singh Nagnyal
 
Sultanpur
ST
M
66
29/08/07
Chandan Sona
 
Samastipur
ST
M
67
30/08/07
Mukesh Johnson Kujur
 
Bhubaneswar
ST
M
SC Category
 
37
28/08/07
Amit Roy
 
Gaya
SC
M
48
29/08/07
Archana Kumari Raut
 
Bhubaneswar
SC
F
78
30/08/07
Pubali Mandal
 

N.24-Paragana

SC
F
82
30/08/07
Rewati Raman Ujjwal
 
Jaipur
SC
M
84
31/08/07
Sasmita Behera
 
Angul
SC
F
91
30/08/07
Rakesh Kumar Majhi
 
Cuttack
SC
M
 


 

5 comments September 3rd, 2007

Rejoinder to “Vedanta University: a flawed pipe dream”

Following is a rejoinder to a recent Hindu article titled "Vedanta University: a flawed pipe dream,"  written by Philip G. Altbach.

While it is possible that Vedanta University, may not turn out as envisioned, it is definitely not a flawed pipe dream. We now show why some of the
arguments given in the above article is flawed.

1. This article talks about $1 billion (the number $3 billion is thrown as an afterthought towards the end of the article) and how it is not a lot money. First, Vedanta University folks have talked about $3 billion, not $1 billion. The $1 billion number is the number that Mr. Agrawal has pledged to contribute; not the number he thinks the university needs. He thinks the later number to be $3 billion. If one wonders where the rest of the $2 billion is supposed to come, then there are two likely sources: (i) the tuition paid by the students and (ii) the use of the real estate in the planned city around the Vedanta University.

Next, lets look at the budget of some of the existing Indian institutions:

What Vedanta University folks have said is that they will spend $1 billion in the initial phase (i.e. Rs 4000 crores) and $3 billion (Rs 12,000 crores) over the next 10-15 years.

Based on the estimates about Rs 4000 crores can be used to build two new IITs (1000 crore*2) + two new IISERs (500 crores*2) + two new central universities (300 crores*2) + two new IIMs (150 crores estimate) + a new National Institute of Design (100 crores estimate). The recurring cost of these would be at 2006-07 estimates would be 2 IITs (200 crores total), two IISERs (200 crores total), two central universities (200 crores), two IIMs (30 crores), an NID (12 crores) = 650 crores. That is about 650/(8000) = 8.125% of the remaining $2 billion of the Vedanta University estimate which is a fairly small percentage of interest. (The Indian market has been making much more in recent years.)

2. The article says: "No research university in the world has 100,000 students or even anything close."

As per, http://www.osu.edu/osutoday/stuinfo.php#enroll_large following are some large research universities in the US

Arizona State University, Main Campus 51,612
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities 51,175
The Ohio State University 50,504
University of Texas, Austin 49,696
University of Florida 49,693
Michigan State University 45,166
Texas A&M University, College Station 44,910
University of Illinois, Urbana 41,862
University of Wisconsin, Madison 41,447
Pennsylvania State University, University Park 40,709

As per http://www.asu.edu/enroll/news/news2.html ASU will have 90,000 students in its campuses by 2020. (Note that all its campuses are in the Phoenix metro area. It is not like the multi-campus UC system or U of Texas system.)

So Vedanta’s goal of 100,000 students around the same time is not that different.

3. Location: It seems the author does not have much idea about the location. The Vedanta University location is about 30 miles from the outer periphery (read Khurda) of Bhubaneswar metropolitan area (the capital of Orissa) . Bhubaneswar is very well connected with the rest of the country both by train ( BBSR , Khurda Rd Schedules, Puri Schedules) and by plane and it is expected to have international flights within a year or two . The Bhubaneswar metropolitan area has a current population of 1.6 million and at the rate it is growing (both in area and population) it is likely that by 2020 it will be more than 3 million and its periphery would be close to (if not completely engulfing) Vedanta University.

4. India is hungry for good higher education and people are willing to pay for it. May be the example of KIIT, Bhubaneswar (Orissa) will open the eyes of the author. KIIT was started in 1992 by three young people with an initial investment of few thousand rupees. In 15 years it has programs in multiple fields (engineering, management, medical science, Rural management, biotechnology, Social Sciences, Dentistry, Diploma, ITI, international high schoo l) and is a deemed university. The growth and revenue of ICFAI and Amity also illustrates the revenue potential. Although none of the above are research universities, Vedanta University can collect similar revenues and spend a big part of it in research.

So it is not unreasonable that Vedanta University will have enough students paying enough in tuition to sustain it. Moreover, one should not take the real estate aspect of Vedanta University lightly. With 6000 acres, there will be enough land left beyond the core university, to earn a handsome income, which can then be ploughed into Vedanta University’s research programs. Currently, Bhubaneswar is a destination for many IT companies for their development centers. It has the big 4 of India (Wipro, Infosys, TCS and Satyam), IBM and many small and medium sized IT companies. With a top-notch environment the research park around Vedanta university should be able to attract research divisions of international companies.

Bhubaneswar metropolitan area has 26 engineering colleges (at least 5 more will start operating in the coming year) , 7 existing universities, several more in the making, etc. etc. Please see the right column of https://www.orissalinks.com/  to get an idea of the existing and expected educational infrastructure of greater Bhubaneswar.

7 comments August 29th, 2007

JITM Students obtain scholarships from LBW trust of Australia

Following are excerpts from a report in Pioneer on this.

Thirteen students belonging to B Tech, +2 Science and ITI of JITM, Paralkhemundi, have been chosen by the LBW Trust, which is based in Sydney, Australia, having the website http://www.lbwtrust.com.au.

The scholarships will cover the respective tuition fees in different programmes. The support is initially for a year and would be continued based on the academic performance of the students.

The awardees also include three female students. It is expected that this support will assist the selected students greatly, who are from weak financial background though being meritorious. It is also expected to encourage other students to perform well academically in order to avail similar opportunities in the future.

The LBW Trust was established last year with the purpose of providing education and training to impoverished and underprivileged people overseas and within Australia.

Candidates for assistance by the trust would be chosen from cricket playing nations among developing countries as well as from Australia.

The trust hopes that these young men and women, who are sponsored by it, would in their turn play their part in the upliftment of their countries.

Interested students should go to the Contact Us pages of the trust and send a mail to them to find out more about this scholarship and how to apply for it. 

1 comment August 14th, 2007

BJB/Ravenshaw Junior Colleges and their performance in IIT entrance exams: how to change it (Chitta1)

BJB Junior College is the premier junior college of Orissa. Earlier we listed its arts and science merit lists. In the science merit list there are about 418 students who have secured more than 90% in their class X exam.  Although I have not seen Ravenshaw Junior College’s list, my guess is the situation will be almost similar (may be a little bit less) percentage wise. BJB Junior College currently has 512 seats in plus two science and Ravenshaw (after the recent seat increase) has 384 seats.

I am an alumnus of BJB (when it had 384 seats) and have close friends from Ravenshaw. Based on my experience in BJB, and my subsequent experience in IIT Kharagpur Computer Sc and University of Maryland (where I had JEE number 1 of a year in one of my classes)  I can say that at least 200 of BJB Jr plus two science students and 150 of Ravenshaw Jr plus two science students have the ability to make it to an IIT and do well in them.

Yet, as I am told, these days annually only about 10-12 fresh plus two pass outs from BJB Jr make it to IITs and may be another 10-12 older pass outs also make it. The result for Ravenshaw Jr is similar. Considering the quality of students that get into BJB Jr and Ravenshaw Jr, this result is dismal and is a shame.

One should just compare how similar colleges from others states do. Many of them send more than 100 students to IITs. An example is Little Flower Junior College of Hyderabad. (It was true in my time and as Partyusa confirms, it was true in his time too.)

Now, it is not the case that Orissa students (as aptly represented by BJB and Ravenshaw) are inferior than students from other states. They are as good, and often they do better (than what their incoming ranks would suggest) once they get in to a national institute.

So why is it that their result in the IIT entrance exam is so dismal!

From my analysis, experience and talking to other friends following are some of my thoughts on this.

1. Lack of Confidence; not believing in oneself: Many students hear about the performance of the previous year and when they find out that only 10-12 from their college made it to IITs, they figure that they won’t be among the top 10-12 in their batch and hence give up before starting. Many others start preparing for IIT but because of lack of confidence, give up mid way.

2. Negative advice: I have heard that certain teachers/seniors/parents/guardians give negative advice. They say that IIT is too hard and if one focuses so much on the IIT preparation then he/she may do badly in other exams and as a result, neither will he/she get IIT, nor will he/she get into the easier options through AIEEE and Orissa JEE.

3. Over dependence on low quality tuitions: Many students take multiple tutions and coaching classes that leaves them little time to study on their own. They depend on their tuition master’s notes rather than reading the books themselves.

4. Satisfied with easier alternatives: Some students set a lower goal for themselves. They notice that graduates from various private colleges in and around Bhubaneswar get well-paying jobs in recognized companies and decide why work hard to prepare for IIT.

Some basic advice to plus 2 students regarding getting into IITs

1. Confidence issues and countering the negative advice: The students who get into BJB jr and Ravenshaw jr colleges with more than or close to 90% marks in their Class X need not doubt their abilities. They will be successful in no matter what they do, provided they put their mind to it. Now, not every one needs to aim or go to IITs. But whatever field they decide for their career they should aim for the best college/institute in that field. So if Engineering is their choice then IITs and BITS should be in the top of their list and if science and maths is their interest then they should aim for NISER and IISERs. If one prepares for these entrance exams in a proper way then even if they are not successful for IIT/BITS/NISER/IISER they will do well in AIEEE, Orissa JEE and Plus 2 examination. The students that get into BJB jr and Ravenshaw jr are among the top 1000 students of Orissa. So there is no reason they should not get within the top 1000 of Orissa JEE and get into a very good local engineering college. With that excellent fall back option, BJB jr and Ravenshaw jr plus two science students interested in engineering should prepare for IIT with their full heart, and without any fear, but in a proper way.

2. A proper way for preparing for IIT and other entrance exams:  First, only reading notes dictated by ones tuition master is the worst way for preparing for entrance exams. When a tuition master dictates notes, at best what it implies is that he/she has read the material from one or more places, hopefully understood it, and has made a summary of it. When someone else (a student taking tuition) just reads those notes he/she does not develop the same level of understanding as he/she would have developed if he/she had read the original material in the books himself/herself.  Similarly, by only reading examples of solved problems (or listening to a tuition master explaining a solved problem) one does not develop the skill to solve problems. Unfortunately, many plus two students take multiple tuitions where their tuition masters dictate notes, and go through solved examples; they do not have time or energy left to read the text book and develop their own understanding and solve problems on their own to develop the problem solving skill. Now that we have discussed what is the wrong way; let us discuss the right or proper way.

* One must read one of the text books and develop their own understanding of a topic. It is ok to ask a teacher, including a tuition master, to clarify certain aspects that the student could not understand on his/her own. One may (does not have to) make their own notes based on their reading and understanding for quick revisions of the material later.

* For each topic, one must solve many problems on their own. Some of the problems may not be solvable in one sitting. Sometimes one may have to think about the problem, and may be go to sleep; may be in their subconscious they will get some insight of how to solve the problems. In other words, for any topic, pick one source (say X)  that has a few solved problems and several  problems to be solved (but with final answers). One should then read the material in the book, then read the material in X, then read the solved examples in X, and then solve the exercise problems in X on their own.  They should not look at another source Y which may have solved some of the exercise problems in X. One needs to do their best, and if necessary spend 2-3 days thinking about the exercise problems in X that they could not immediately solve. Only after one does this kind of routine with respect to a topic and a source X, and has time, one may take a stab at another source Y.  After working with source X, when working with source Y, one should try to not read all the solved examples of Y, but read a few of them and do the solved example problems (without looking at the solution) as well as the exercise problems on their own. However, in general, most students won’t have time to work with more than one source.

* In summary, one must read a book to understand the material (and make their own notes if they desire so) and pick one source (may be the study material of a postal coaching class, or a preparing for IIT book, etc.), and solve all its exercise problem on their own.

Now how does the above fit in with classes at your Junior College and the tuition that many student seem to be taking. I worry that there is not enough hours in a day for most people to take multiple tuitions,  attend classes at BJB/Ravenshaw and then prepare in a proper way as I suggest above. So one has to make decisions.

I personally attended my classes at BJB, and prepared in the above way with my source being study material of a postal coaching class. I never took tuition in my life, and never attended a face-to-face coaching class.

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Many coaching classes do simulated tests. Taking simulated tests are useful, but only if you have prepared in the proper way described above. Otherwise, they are not much useful as you would not have developed the understanding and problem solving skills necessary to answer hard question in an exam.

This is all for now. In my next write up I will discuss some studying as well as test taking strategies. But let me sum up the main thoughts in the above write up.

  • Most students in BJB and Ravenshaw junior colleges are good enough to get into IIT as well as succeed in it. All they need is to believe in themselves, ignore negative advices and prepare in a proper way.
  • Proper preparation means reading the text book (not notes dictated by someone) to develop understanding of topics and solving problems (not reading solved examples) on your own to hone your problem solving skills.

 

4 comments August 12th, 2007

Ex and founding VC of BPUT Prof. Damodar Acharya will be IIT Kharagpur director from July 2007

UNI reports that Prof. Damodar Acharya, currently the Chairman of AICTE will become the director of IIT Kharagpur. Prior to being the AICTE Chairman he was the founding vice Chancellor of BPUT. At that time he had discussed with the Orissa government the importance of getting an IIT to Orissa and had led the development of Orissa government’s proposal for an IIT. Last year, while he was at AICTE, again with his help, the IIT Kharagpur branch campus in Bhubaneswar idea was made to a formal proposal. Now that he will be the director of IIT Kharagpur, lets hope that he takes some additional steps towards the fruition of a IIT Kharagpur branch in Bhubaneswar. Following is a biography from the AICTE pages.

Continue Reading 1 comment June 16th, 2007

Cabinet approves new scholarship scheme for tribals

From http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=28365

The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for introduction of a new Central Sector Scholarship Scheme of Top Quality Higher Education to Students belonging to Scheduled Tribes, to be implemented from 2007-08.

Continue Reading May 31st, 2007

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