I have been thinking of this issue since December when I interacted with a niece and nephew of mine (see below). Today I came across a TOI report on Indian students being at the bottom (2nd from bottom), which made me reflect further and write this post. Following are some excerpts from that report.
Fifteen-year-old Indians who were put, for the first time, on a global stage stood second to last, only beating Kyrgyzstan when tested on their reading, math and science abilities.
India ranked second last among the 73 countries that participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted annually to evaluate education systems worldwide by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Secretariat. The survey is based on two-hour tests that half a million students are put through.
… The states of Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh, showpieces for education and development, were selected by the central government to participate in PISA, but their test results were damning.
15-yr-old Indians 200 points behind global topper
Tamil Nadu and Himachal, showpieces of India’s education and development, fared miserably at the Programme for International Student Asssment, conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Secretariat.
An analysis of the performance of the two states showed:
In math, considered India’s strong point, they finished second and third to last, beating only Kyrgyzstan
When the Indian students were asked to read English text, again Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh were better than only Kyrgyzstan. Girls were better than boys
The science results were the worst. Himachal Pradesh stood last, this time behind Kyrgyzstan. Tamil Nadu was slightly better and finished third from the bottom
The average 15-year-old Indian is over 200 points behind the global topper. Comparing scores, experts estimate that an Indian eighth grader is at the level of a South Korean third grader in math abilities or a second-year student from Shanghai when it comes to reading skills.
The report said: "In Himachal, 11% of students are estimated to have a proficiency in reading literacy that is at or above the baseline level needed to participate effectively and productively in life. It follows that 89% of students in Himachal are estimated to be below that baseline level."
The detailed and insightful blog posts here, here, here, here and here have more details on this PISA test and MHRD’s reaction to India’s performance.
So here are my personal thoughts on this.
As I mentioned earlier, this December I interacted with a nephew and a niece in India. This niece lives in a small town (Vyasanagar) and had 85%+ in her class ten exam and was preparing for her +2 Science exams. She was very good at solving math problems on topics that she had already learned. For some reason I asked her to read a new section in the book and solve the problems at the end of the section. She could not do it. She asked me to explain that section. Upon further inquiry I found that her studying pattern was to attend "tuition" where the tuition master would explain a particular section of a book and then give problems. In other words she was lacking in "reading comprehension". The same story with respect to my nephew, an engineering student. He could not read a section on his own and understand it well enough to solve the problems at the end of the chapter.
Considering the prevalance of "tuition" in India the above are not isolated cases. I think the "epidemic" of tuition is due to the fact that most school students in India have not developed the "reading comprehension" skills. That is because developing the "reading comprehension" is neither emphasized nor tested and this is especially true with respect to "Reading comprehension in English".
Starting from the very beginning, English text books have a series of chapters with stories, essays or poems and at the end of it there are questions with respect to them. This seemingly suggests that students using those text books are being taught "Reading comprehension in English".
That is not the case.
Most often, the teachers or the tutors read the text and explain the students those chapters. At times they may ask the students to read the text aloud. But that does not automatically develop the "reading comprehension" skills.
I am surprised that the neglect of the development of "reading comprehension" skills has not been widely noticed and acted upon. Following are pointers to some places where they have been noticed. But I am not sure they have been properly addressed.
The wonderful organization Pratham has a "Read India" program. Following is an excerpt from their main page:
Read India was therefore launched on a national scale in 2007 to help achieve the following objectives:
* All Std I children know at least alphabets & numbers.
* All Std II children can read at least words & do simple sums.
* All Std III-V children can at least read simple texts fluently & confidently solve arithmetic problems.
Later in that page they have:
In 2009-10 Read India moved to the next level, Read India II, focuses on higher grade-specific learning competencies, where basics have been achieved.2010 onwards, Read India II moved from our previously used model of short-term large-scale learning campaign mode to a longer, more sustained presence in the villages that we work in, in order to bring about a deeper more permanent impact.
However, no where in that page "Reading Comprehension" is mentioned. But by googling the phrase "Reading to Learn R2L methodologies Pratham" I was able to reach the page http://www.prathamusa.org/programs/learning-support-classes where "reading comprehension" is mentioned in the following context.
Read to learn (R2L) picks up where Learn to Read leaves off. Out-of-school children are the priority of the program. Once children have built their basic reading skills, they are taught how to read with comprehension and express what they have learned. R2L classes have two phases:
Phase 1 (R2L1) strengthens reading, comprehension of school and other texts, and independent writing.
Phase 2 (R2L2) ensures that the children complete the basic curriculum for Grade III as prescribed by the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT).
All this implies much more teacher and learner control over the texts used in class, including textbooks. Curricular freedom cannot exist in the presence of a single prescribed text. Earlier practices of choosing from a range of available texts can be revived; some states like Orissa have come up with innovative textbooks with short units that can be “covered” within a single class (Sunwani 2005), incorporating the idea of a reading card. Language should be seen as a “dynamic” text, i.e. exposure should be to new occurrences of comparable language samples everyday, rather than repeatedly to a single text
that is mastered (Amritavalli (1999) makes an analogy with the learning of a raga in Indian classical music). This will prepare the child for tests of “unseen” comprehension passages. Teachers and learners need to evolve for themselves a balance in the use of predictable and unpredictable texts that suits their individual levels of comfort.
But I wonder if anything has been done about it.
What needs to be done is from the very beginning "Reading comprehension" should be emphasized and tested. How? As suggested in the above mentioned NCERT document, students should be trained to read passages on their own and answer questions about them. They should be tested with respect to passages they have not seen before. This needs to happen in every class starting from the class where they learn the language.
The site http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/reading/reindex.htm makes a good case of the importance of "Reading Comprehension" and how should it be approached differently from the traditional approach. (The traditional approach is followed in India with additional drawbacks of the teachers and tutors doing the comprehension.) Following is from that page:
Teaching Reading
Traditionally, the purpose of learning to read in a language has been to have access to the literature written in that language. In language instruction, reading materials have traditionally been chosen from literary texts that represent "higher" forms of culture.
This approach assumes that students learn to read a language by studying its vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure, not by actually reading it. In this approach, lower level learners read only sentences and paragraphs generated by textbook writers and instructors. The reading of authentic materials is limited to the works of great authors and reserved for upper level students who have developed the language skills needed to read them.
The communicative approach to language teaching has given instructors a different understanding of the role of reading in the language classroom and the types of texts that can be used in instruction. When the goal of instruction is communicative competence, everyday materials such as train schedules, newspaper articles, and travel and tourism Web sites become appropriate classroom materials, because reading them is one way communicative competence is developed. Instruction in reading and reading practice thus become essential parts of language teaching at every level.
Reading Purpose and Reading Comprehension
Reading is an activity with a purpose. A person may read in order to gain information or verify existing knowledge, or in order to critique a writer’s ideas or writing style. A person may also read for enjoyment, or to enhance knowledge of the language being read. The purpose(s) for reading guide the reader’s selection of texts.
The purpose for reading also determines the appropriate approach to reading comprehension. A person who needs to know whether she can afford to eat at a particular restaurant needs to comprehend the pricing information provided on the menu, but does not need to recognize the name of every appetizer listed. A person reading poetry for enjoyment needs to recognize the words the poet uses and the ways they are put together, but does not need to identify main idea and supporting details. However, a person using a scientific article to support an opinion needs to know the vocabulary that is used, understand the facts and cause-effect sequences that are presented, and recognize ideas that are presented as hypotheses and givens.
Reading research shows that good readers
Read extensively
Integrate information in the text with existing knowledge
Have a flexible reading style, depending on what they are reading
Are motivated
Rely on different skills interacting: perceptual processing, phonemic processing, recall
Read for a purpose; reading serves a function
Reading as a Process
Reading is an interactive process that goes on between the reader and the text, resulting in comprehension. The text presents letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs that encode meaning. The reader uses knowledge, skills, and strategies to determine what that meaning is.
Reader knowledge, skills, and strategies include
Linguistic competence: the ability to recognize the elements of the writing system; knowledge of vocabulary; knowledge of how words are structured into sentences
Discourse competence: knowledge of discourse markers and how they connect parts of the text to one another
Sociolinguistic competence: knowledge about different types of texts and their usual structure and content
Strategic competence: the ability to use top-down strategies (see Strategies for Developing Reading Skills for descriptions), as well as knowledge of the language (a bottom-up strategy)
The purpose(s) for reading and the type of text determine the specific knowledge, skills, and strategies that readers need to apply to achieve comprehension. Reading comprehension is thus much more than decoding. Reading comprehension results when the reader knows which skills and strategies are appropriate for the type of text, and understands how to apply them to accomplish the reading purpose.
Sri Sri University at Naraj, Cuttack is starting its business school (Faculty of Management) from 2012-13 with three MBA programs:
General Management
Agribusiness
Enrepreneurship
It has assembled a good list of faculty (23 core faculty, adjunct faculty, and visiting faculty) and academic and industry mentors. Many of them have degrees from and/or other associations with top institutions in India (IIT, IIM) and abroad (Cornell, UT Austin, etc.). The following youtube video gives a quick introduction of Sri Sri University’s Faculty of Management.
A photo presentation based on screenshots of the above video is linked below.
The campus design is impressive. See the youtube video of the Architect’s flyby below.
A photo presentation based on screenshots of the above video is linked below.
Note that the basic parameters of this university, as given in the above pictures, are as follows:
Note that many of the above numbers, especially the project cost, are comparable with that of IIT Bhubaneswar.
Based on the faculty it has already assembled for its business school, if they continue to hire at that level for the other disciplines, then, I think, at maturity (i.e., in 7 years) this university will be better than most central universities in India.
At that time with 10,000 students the tuition and housing income from students will be about 10,000 * 3 lakhs = Rs 300 crores per annum. (The 3 lakhs/year is based on the numbers here. The business school fees would have increased by that time. On the other hand other programs may have lesser tuition fees.) That is a good number to spend on the university.
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.
… In the last few years, nearly 125 private Plus-II science colleges have mushroomed in and around the city. Lured by their promise of helping students to crack the IIT entrance and other tough competitive exams, parents are ready to cough up whatever admission amount and fees they ask for.
… These completely residential colleges offer reasonably good infrastructure and a host of extra facilities like coaching for competitive exams, 24×7 teachers` guidance, Wi-Fi campus, air-conditioned classrooms, comfortable hostels and transportation services. The facilities, obviously, come at a price — these institutes charge at least 10 times more than government-run colleges.
"The reason for proliferation of self-financing colleges in the city is the lack of infrastructure, good teaching and extra facilities in government colleges. Students of state colleges have to depend on tuitions after college hours to complete their course; as a result, they don`t get much time for self-study. But in private residential colleges, they get enough time to study on their own," said Biranchi Panda, the president of Jupiter +2 Science College.
The principal of BJB Junior College, S N Mohanty, said, "New educational institutes are always welcome if their genuine purpose is to impart education. But most of these colleges are shops out to rake in profits. They are commercial establishments rather than educational institutes. Besides, there should be a law to regulate the fee structure and the profits of these colleges."
The fee for the two-year Plus-II course in self-financing, residential colleges ranges between Rs 75,000 a year to Rs 1.40 lakh a year, depending on the infrastructure and facilities. "It`s burning a hole in my pocket to pay the fees of my two daughters studying in two different residential colleges in the city. Before admission, these institutes make many promises but once the students join they realize they lack many things," said Prafulla Rout of Barbil.
Padmaja Naidu, the director of Naidu +2 Science College, said, "If you take the fee of a government college along with entrance exam coaching fees, it will be equal with the expense of studying in a private college. Parents want air-conditioned classrooms and refrigerators in hostels. And these facilities do not come for free."
However, many feel it is high time to run checks on self-financing colleges in the city. Many of these institutes are operating out of rented houses without quality teachers, laboratories, libraries and other infrastructure. Following allegations of manipulation of results at a well-known self-financing college, the government ordered a crime branch probe.
"The mushrooming of self-financing colleges is mainly due to the faulty policy of the state government. There must be checks in place at some point. The government is giving approval to colleges without properly verifying infrastructure and faculty positions. Due to this, many government colleges are suffering," said the principal of Newton +2 Science College, K C Mohanty.
R N Panda, the principal of Institute of Higher Secondary Education, said, "There are many genuine private colleges that are run by academicians although some of them are luring students with false promises. Private colleges have accountability and a healthy competition, which government institutes lack."
The report is available at http://www.education.nic.in/tech/KakodkarCommitteeReport-05132011.pdf. Thanks to Devasis Sarangi for the pointer. The members of this committee were: Anil Kakodkar (Chair), T. V. Mohandas Pai, Hari Bhartia, Ashok Jhunjhunwala, K. Mohandas, Ashok Thakur, M. Anandakrishnan, Gautam Barua, T. A. Gonsalves, K. Sudhakar and S. Ramesh Babu. Following are excerpts from the executive summary of the report.
A committee was constituted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) vide its order F.NO.19-3/2009-TS 1 of 3 February 2010 to suggest a roadmap for the autonomy and future of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) as world-class institutions for research and higher learning.
… We should be in the forefront to meet the growing human needs with minimum use of earth resources in a manner that keeps the environment around us protected. We need to nurture a large science and technology (S&T) based innovation ecosystem that creates solutions for India’s inclusive development and economic growth. The creation of a large pool of researchers (with PhD) commensurate with the size of our population and economy as well as our aspirations, is a key necessity for the realization of these objectives.
… In terms of research, the IITs are continuously enhancing their research activities as evidenced by the increasing number of PhDs coming out of the IIT system. In fact, most PhDs in engineering in the country are now coming from the IITs. Even so, the number of PhDs that come out annually from the IITs is very small (about 1000 per year) in comparison to the size of our country, size of our economy and number of youth in the country. Further, only about 1% of IIT B.Techs do PhD at the IITs. … The IITs, being the largest system for high-level engineering R&D and human resource development in an ambience of high-level research, have thus to take on the challenge of creating an advanced research-based innovation ecosystem that, on a national scale, is large enough to make a significant positive difference. For this purpose, while the scale of high-level research at the IITs needs to be considerably enhanced and broad based with the involvement of industry and national technology related programmes, the IITs should also contribute in a significant way to the research and development capability and culture in the country at large (by creating a large pool of PhD graduates). If one looks around the world, most of the best technology institutions in the world have 15,000+ students as opposed to 6000+ currently at each of the established IITs. USA and China produce around 8000–9000 PhDs in engineering and technology annually while in India the corresponding number presently is around 1000. With this background, and considering the large gap that we have to bridge in realizing our development aspirations, we need a large-scale increase in the number of PhDs coming out from the IITs. The Committee has therefore suggested that each IIT should progressively grow to have around 1200 faculty (from around 500 today) and closer to 12,000 students with maximum growth coming from an enhanced number of PhD students. While the established IITs could aim at reaching this scale up in about 10 years from now, the newer IITs could take longer. Further, the Committee has suggested setting up of 5 more IITs over this period of time. Thus, the Committee has recommended the number of IIT PhD graduates per year to be scaled up to 10,000, while continuously enhancing quality.
… The Committee has suggested a minimum of 0.6 PhDs per faculty annually, eventually reaching 1 PhD per faculty. On this basis, the Committee has suggested that we should aim at scaling the IIT system to 16,000 faculty and 160,000 total student strength (with 40,000 at the PhD level, 40,000 at the Masters level and 80,000 UG students) by around the year 2020. Each year, then, the IIT system will admit 10,000 PhDs.
…Finding faculty in adequate numbers to meet the needs of OSC expansion as well as new IITs has in itself been a major challenge. Coping with faculty needs for scaling up the PhD programme to the above-mentioned level would thus have to primarily depend on the PhD programme at the IITs itself.
Feeders to such a large PhD programme in the form of bright engineering graduates have to be of a size commensurate with the requirements. While students with a Masters degree and, to some extent B.Tech students, of IITs would constitute an important channel (all efforts must be made to attract them into the IIT PG stream), one would need to tap other channels to get quality students in adequate numbers. The Committee has therefore suggested engagement of IITs with other good quality engineering and science education institutions, particularly those of the Central government like NITs, IIITs and IISERs, with a view to enlarge the pool for selection of quality students and also attract their faculty into the PhD programme. The Committee has also suggested special efforts be made to identify and pick up bright 3rd year students of IITs, NITs and such other such public or private institutions and to initiate them into the PhD programme. Further, the Committee has suggested an augmented intake of PhD students from industry and the engineering education system in the country. IITs being at the top of engineering education in the country should act as an inspiration to raise the level of engineering education in other public and private institutions. This would result in enrichment of these institutions, which is long overdue. Of course, for all this to happen, the IITs would have to aggressively pursue candidates from these different streams to join their PhD programme. To support such a large number of PhD students (40,000 at a time) with challenging and meaningful research problems would require comprehensive augmentation of research facilities and infrastructure. The Committee has proposed significant augmentation/addition in the following four domains. This would be over and above the current mode of support through various research funding agencies for individual proposals submitted to them by the faculty.
1. Identify 3–4 areas of recognized strength involving a reasonable faculty strength at each IIT and support them massively to become the world’s best. Selection of such areas should be done on the basis of demonstrated high-level capability.
2. Take up large coordinated research projects involving a number of groups from different disciplines (from same or different IITs) to address important national challenges/other grand challenges with specific pre-defined deliverables.
3. Establish research parks with significant industry presence at each IIT on the lines of a research park established at IIT Madras, to enable industry–academia collaborations and build a Research and Innovation ecosystem.
4. Establish special laboratories of government ministries/their Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) at IITs to strengthen indigenous capability in key areas of national importance. It is expected that such augmentation of research infrastructure in the IITs would create useful linkages between them and the external world, thus making research at IIT more meaningful. More importantly, this would lead to a broad-based innovation ecosystem of which IIT students and faculty will be an integral part.
World-class institutions are characterized by the existence of a large high quality talent pool (faculty, students and visiting researchers), vibrant academic and research linkages with external better quality institutions, availability of liberal resources and a flexible and conducive governance system that can recognize and selectively support credible new ideas in a hassle-free manner. Funding and autonomy of the IITs are thus key areas that need serious attention.
Towards enhancing autonomy that would provide the IITs the necessary flexibility to support and deal with a new idea or take a new initiative and lead them towards world-class excellence, it is proposed that each Institute be fully governed by its Board of Governors (BoG), including aspects like financial planning and expenditure rules, faculty remuneration, fees and number of faculty and staff, within the overall policy guidelines of the IIT Council in terms of expectations from IITs as world-class institutions, affirmative actions, technology directions and human resource development. The composition of the Board would enable representation of all stakeholders. The Committee has suggested that the Board should have one representative each from MHRD and the state governments. Other members could be selected from panels (duly approved by the IIT Council) prepared by S&T academies and Industry associations; also the alumni and faculty would also be represented. The Board will select the Chairperson following a due process and appoint him/her after approval by the Council. A search committee appointed by the Board would select the Director for approval and appointment by the Board. Selection of the next set of members to replace those retiring, would be done by a nomination committee of the Board and approved by the Board. Each institute would subject itself to a comprehensive institution review by an internationally eminent group once every 5 years. Such reviews which will be overseen by the IIT Council, will have focus on quality, programmes, their direction and size, working of the institutions and suggestions for change, including new initiatives. These review reports shall be made public. Further, there will be an annual MoU between the Government and each IIT, with the Council’s oversight and guidance. Such MoUs would include commitments, responsibilities and deliverables on both sides (Government and IIT). The Visitor would retain emergency powers as at present.
… Attracting the best faculty to the IITs is thus of crucial importance. This would require a strong academic, research and innovation culture and a conducive and transparent organization that nurtures excellence. It has to be driven by the Director and faculty and there should be additional attractions like significant start-up funds that would enable researchers get on with their research from day one. The BoG should have the flexibility to decide on faculty remuneration. It is proposed that there should be a system of faculty assessment in terms of several parameters like teaching, research, technology development and industrial consultancy, policy research and service with differentiated faculty remuneration based on performance-based assessment. At the same time, a tenure system for faculty needs to be examined. The Committee has also suggested the need to enable and encourage some mid-career faculty from the established IITs to shift to newer IITs and for overseas faculty to join IIT.
Institutions like IITs that are devoted to growth in the knowledge, technology and innovation domains and related human capital development, should be seen as asset builders for the nation in the modern knowledge-driven economy. The Committee has thus suggested that IITs be made independent of non-plan (operational) support from the Government for their operational expenditure while at the same time seeking greater plan (capital) support to enhance research in a comprehensive manner, as outlined above. The objective of realizing autonomy would be facilitated by de-linking IIT finances with non-plan support of the Government. The enhanced plan support to IITs would have three components: (i) Student support at postgraduate and research level on a per student basis through scholarships, (ii) research support aimed at pushing the frontiers of knowledge and innovation and (iii) massive augmentation of infrastructure to support larger numbers of students.
It is proposed that the fee charged by the IITs should cover the full operational cost of education, which works out to be roughly 30% of the total current cost of education. A hassle- free bank loan scheme specific to IIT students has been proposed. No collateral would be required. This would enable access to all eligible and deserving students. Further, it has been proposed that MHRD should fully provide for fees and living expenses as per currently prevalent norms at IITs for all research students (PG) as well as UG students from weaker sections. In addition, all students whose parental income is less than Rs 4.5 lakh per annum (to be revised from time to time), should be paid scholarships covering 100% fees, and a monthly stipend.Incentives in the form of deferment of loans for students entering postgraduate education and research and proportionate repayment of loan for students joining as faculty and researchers into programmes at IITs and other areas identified by the Government, have been proposed. The Committee has also recommended that all government ministries should provide a minimum of 20% overheads without ceiling on the R&D projects sanctioned to IITs. This is necessary to avoid strain on institute resources as they undertake enlarged R&D activities. Most US universities charge overheads to the tune of 50%. Industrial consultancy and royalty, alumni and industrial grants/donations and continuing education programmes, including executive M.Tech programmes, would be some other modes for enhancing IIT finances. It is expected that IIT resources through non-governmental sources would further improve in a significant way once the IITs acquire financial autonomy.
With this background, the Committee has suggested that the tuition fees should be between Rs 2–2.5 lakh per year per student. This would be reasonable considering the high demand for IIT graduates and the salary that an IIT B.Tech is expected to get. There is a legacy commitment in the form of retirement benefits under the old pension scheme (to the tune of around Rs 221 crore for all IITs in 2010). This should be continued to be paid by the Government till the end of the scheme.
To support research at IITs, MHRD should provide plan funds at Rs 1.5 lakh per student annually. The newer IITs do not have any significant endowment funds at present. Hence, Rs 50 crore as seed endowment over the next 5 years has been proposed for each new IIT.
On the capital investment front, the Government should support an Expansion Budget at Rs 20 lakh per additional student. In addition, a sum of Rs 5 lakh per student would be required in the established IITs for regeneration of ageing infrastructure. It is also assessed that for OSC- related expansion costs, Rs 15 lakh per student should be provided as Rs 10 lakh per student provided presently has been found to be inadequate. The IITs must nurture an ambience of Innovation and Entrepreneurship to make India a world leader in the present-day knowledge economy. In order to achieve this, we should have substantially enhanced Industrial collaboration with a focus on technology development in the Indian context. A strong industry–academia relationship is of key importance. Initially, there needs to be significant give and take on both sides. But this will make a significant difference to teaching and research at the IITs and will train IIT graduates to take India to a leadership position. One should also encourage industry R&D personnel to become adjunct faculty and enable large numbers of industry persons to do PhD. Research Parks create the right ecosystem to bring students, faculty and industry R&D personnel together. It is proposed that Rs 200 crore be provided for setting up a Research Park on the lines of the IIT Madras Research Park at each IIT. The IITs need to learn that success in entrepreneurship often comes only after multiple failures and substantial benefits accrue only if R&D is pursued over long periods. We need to create a value system that takes these factors into account. IITs have to make special efforts to learn to evaluate faculty focusing on product development. Outsourcing of support activities to the maximum extent possible has been strongly recommended. IITs should strive to minimize the number of regular employees for non- technical support functions. All decisions with regard to staff, including numbers and remuneration, should be decided by the BoG. Most scientific staff is proposed to be on project mode, with flexibility of salaries for temporary staff. The technical staff could be in-sourced wherever possible. Here, the use of PhD students as teaching assistants would be of help. On the administration side, maximum possible computerization of functions has been recommended to reduce the requirement of administrative staff. Hiring of some professional mid-career staff could be considered to make the administration more efficient. They should be observed for their performance for a few years before they are regularized. Scaling up engineering education with quality would ensure availability of quality human resource for meeting India’s needs. It will also be an excellent feeder pool to critical areas as well as into the PhD programmes. Seventy Centrally funded institutions (including IITs) should therefore graduate 100,000 high quality engineers every year. While the share of 20 IITs could be 20,000 B.Techs, the 50 other institutions should plan to graduate 80,000 graduates every year in about 10 years from now. Hopefully, state governments and private institutions could create additionally at least 200,000 quality seats. This will create a reasonable sized science and engineering pool for India’s future.
As a part of IITs’ engagement in this process, each of the 50 Centrally funded science and engineering institutions (like NITs, IIITs, IISER, NISER) could select 5 bright young (aged around 35 years) faculty members from the IIT system and invite them to be a member of their BoG and Senate. They could be tasked to build a relationship with the concerned IIT department and young faculty at the Institute to enable and enhance research collaboration (Rs 50 lakh to be identified for each faculty for this purpose) between the institute and the IITs. They would encourage B.Techs to join PhD programmes at the IITs and, if necessary, get faculty to do PhDs at the IITs. Similarly, they could get some IIT PhDs to join the institute as faculty. It is expected that each faculty spends at least 15 days a year at the institute. One of the consequences of this strategy would also be that young IIT faculty would be trained to be future leaders. In a similar manner, 3 young persons from industry could be identified by each NIT. They could be similarly invited to the Board and be tasked with similar goals.
Amendments to the IIT Act would be necessary to give effect to the above-mentioned recommendations.
Details are given in the report. We strongly suggest that the recommendations of the Committee should be treated as a whole to realize the intended objective. It is also recommended that an empowered Implementation committee should be tasked for implementation of these recommendations and to facilitate transition to the new framework for IITs.
The Azim Premji Foundation (APF) … has decided to set up new institutes in Orissa. "The Institute of Learning and Development will be set up in the state under Azim Premji University. We also have plans to set up low-cost model demonstration schools in the districts. The projects will begin in the next couple of years," said the chief executive officer of APF, Dileep Ranjekar.
… He announced the launch of three post-graduate courses at the university, starting from the next academic session. "The absence of a large number of committed, qualified and trained professionals is one of the major constraints in the fields of education and development. The courses we have designed in our university will definitely help prepare outstanding professionals in the education sector," said Ranjekar. The courses offered are: masters degrees in education, development and teacher education.
"There is a huge dearth of experts in the fields of education and development. Teachers’ education in the country is of very poor quality and there has been no concerted effort to improve the curriculum and pedagogy," Ranjekar said.
Those interested in studying in the university will also be provided facilities like scholarships, loans, partial or full tuition fees and living expenses. "We will ensure that no student misses out on opportunities to study in the university due to financial constraints," he maintained. Ranjekar added that the foundation also has plans to set up an institute for assessment and accreditation of educational institutes.
Prof. Gopabandhu Behera and Dr. A. K. Nanda, who are also the Governing Body member of Vedanta Science College were also present.
Mr.C Joseph, in-charge of the Vedanta Science College, Nabakrushna Panda, Principal, Government Autonomous College, Bhawanipatna, S P Nanda, Principal, Government, Women’s College, Bhawanipatna, Sudershan Rath, Principal, Bisamcuttack College and Bharat Rath, Principal Rayagada Government College also graced the conference.
The objective of the conference was to make the people conscious about the value of science education at degree level as well as to discuss about the proposed Vedanta Science College at Lanjigarh.
Dr. Kumar, President and COO, VAL, said, “Vedanta Science College was a long pending demand of the people of Western Ordisha.
He said that Vedanta is committed to create a state of art Science College that will promote quality science education in Western Odisha.
Quality Science education can help in developing technical manpower for industrialization in the state, he added.
The proposed Vedanta Science College will start its academic session from 2011.
The institution will provide education in subjects of Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Mathematics, Zoology, and Environmental Science.
It should be noted that there are very few (could be zero) fully private (i.e., without depending on state grants) science colleges in Odisha. Even the government ones and private ones that depend on state grants do not have good infrastructure and do not have adequate quality faculty. The more well known private higher education institutions of the state focus on trade oriented disciplines like engineering, management, medicine, pharmacy, biotechnology etc. so that they can charge adequate amount of student tuition. This includes deemed universities like KIIT and SOA and the private state university Centurion. None have science programs at the Bachelors level.
So if the Vedanta Science college in Lanjigarh becomes a good quality science college, then it would be a big boon to Kalahandi and Rayagada districts and hopefully it will also encourage other private groups to establish similar colleges.
Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Human Resource Development, announced revised norms for the approval process, for 2011-2012, of institutes that are regulated by the All Indian Council for Technical Education (AICTE), here today.
The AICTE has been making an effort to facilitate stake holders in establishing good technical institutions in the Country. In order that a planned and coordinated development is ensured in technical education, AICTE for the coming year 2011 -12 has taken the following facilitative measures for Institutions, Faculty and students and others.
1. Introduction of Section 25 of Company’s Act to allow good corporates to setup Technical Institutions. However no Joint ventures can apply for this.
PPP and BOT model
2. Extended to 241 Districts where currently no AICTE Institution exists. This will facilitate spread of Technical education to all under represented areas.
3. Benefits of MEGA Cities extended to Metros and MRDA regions. Now there shall be two classifications of Rural and Other areas where the land requirement is: Rural area 10 acres, Other areas 2.5 acres.
4. FSI / FAR shall be considered for vertical Expansion where Management Programs will be allowed on FSI / FAR basis
5. Social Responsibility
5pm to 8 pm Courses for skill development that are based on the expertise areas possessed by the respective Institutions in the areas of Engineering / Technology / Architecture / Town Planning / Hospitality / Pharmacy etc are being allowed to be conducted by AICTE approved Institutions. This will facilitate the community around the Institutions to benefit by acquiring the skills provided by these Institutes. These Institutions are expected to form clusters with other institutions in the neighbourhood and collaborate with the Industries in the area in running these skill based programs.
6. Upto year 2010, Architecture had 40 students / division. This has been raised to 60 Seats / division. to provide for larger no. of seats and optimisation of resources without having to set up new institutions in the area.
7. Upto year 2010, different Programs like Engineering / Architecture / Pharmacy / Management / Hotel management and catering Technology, one each were allowed to be integrated into a single campus so that resources can be shared and optimised. Now this facility has been extended to more than one program to be integrated. Ie, 2 or more Engineering colleges, 2 or more management colleges and so on can be integrated as Technical / integrated campus to optimise resources
8. Upto year 2010, Tuition fee waiver scheme operated by AICTE allows for providing 10% supernumerary seats that are given to students of economically backward category. These seats were provided for Instituitions who may apply for such a scheme. Now these seats are made manadatory for every Institute upto 5%.
9. Security Money Deposit that takes care of contingencies in case of Institutions defaulting on their obligations, shall be replaced as money deposit in AICTE account. All existing FDR’s shall be converted to money deposit. This is necessitated because of
• Earlier FDR’s being encashed without AICTE knowledge or permission
• Custody and logistics of maintaining FDR’s being a source of problems.
10. The interest accrued shall be used to facilitate more stake holders like faculty, students, funding Institutions through schemes, and enhanced scholarships. AICTE has recently taken a decision to include all Government and Government aided Institutions as QIP centres in order to promote more research amongst faculty and produce more Ph. D’s. Hence a lot more faculty would be needed to be provided with QIP scholarships. This is also expected to be met from the money so generated.
11. All institutions completing more than one batch shall be eligible to get 2 Courses / program / level / shift on self disclosure if facilities and infrastructure are available. One Course would mean an addition of 60 students or one division. The ceiling which was there earlier like no increase after an intake of 540 students has been removed.
12. Institutions not completing one batch of passed out students shall get 1 Courses / program / level / shift on self disclosure if facilities are available.
13. If institutions have accreditation a further 1 Courses / program / level / shift shall be given additional in the course accredited.
14. 2nd Shift Courses and Women to Co-Ed Institutions shall be processed only after expert visits confirm that the infrastructure required exists with the Institutions.
15. Stand alone PG Institutes can be started which was not the case earlier.
16. Indian Degrees can be given in Campuses of Indian Institutions abroad subject to local laws.
17. Overseas campus can be setup subject to local laws and Indian Government clearance.
18. PGDM courses to be regulated as per several representations made.
• Date of admissions and Model curriculum to be given by AICTE
• Admissions to be effected by States and Fee to be regulated by State fee committee.
19. All approvals for Polytechnics shall be processed by AICTE.
20. Students of XII Vocational / Technical of the State Boards or any other to be admitted to 2nd Year lateral entry of a Diploma Program
21. Students of B. Sc to be admitted to 2nd Year lateral entry onto a Degree Program provided they have passed Mathematics at XII or B Sc level and would be required to pass Engineering Graphics and Engineering Mechanics along with the second year subjects.
22. 10% lateral entry setas increased to 20% in all states except Andaman Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Diu Daman where it is 30%
23. A separate division of 60 students / course can be started from 2nd year onwards in all AICTE approved Institutions subject to availability of infrastructure, exclusively for Polytechnic students for lateral entry.
24. All approval process to be completed by May 31st 2011 to enable coordinated planning.
The new norms, allowing for an increase in the number of institutes and seats in various courses, will come into effect immediately.
(1) … all institutions completing more than one batch will be eligible to get two courses and programmes.
One course would mean the addition of 60 students.
(2) The earlier ceiling, which did not permit any increase after an intake of 540 students, has now been removed.
(3) All these steps envisage an increase in the number of total available seats by 50 per cent and a sharp increase in the workload of the faculty members. …
(4) The reforms also include relaxing land requirement for setting up institutions from 3.5 acres to 2.5 acres in urban areas and introducing section 25 of the Companies Act to allow ‘ good corporates’ to set up technical institutions. No joint ventures can apply for this.
(5) Until recently, postgraduate programmes could be started only where an undergraduate programme existed. But now, the AICTE will permit standalone postgraduate institutions to be started.
In regards to point (4) above one may note that one of the controversy regarding Vedanta University is regarding its status as a Section 25 company.
Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday announced the revised norms for the approval process for 2011-2012 of institutes that are regulated by All Indian Council for Technical Education (AICTE). …
… From now onwards, technical institutes approved by the AICTE, have to reserve up to 5 percent of their seats for students from economically backward sections of society.
“Till now, tuition fee waiver scheme, operated by the AICTE, allowed providing up to 10 percent supernumerary seats that are given to students of economically backward category. It was the discretion on the part of the institution to apply for such a scheme. Now, these seats are made mandatory for every institute up to 5 percent,” Sibal said. The minister said, “These measures are aimed at easing pressure on the education sector and providing relief to the students in matters of admission.”
Virginia Tech officials touted the university’s offerings Monday to a delegation from India — the leader of which could help the university open a new campus in the world’s second-most populous country.
With support from Indian company MARG Ltd., Tech has been working for about four years on a plan to build a university near India’s fifth-most-populous city, Chennai.
If approved, the campus would sit on about 30 acres in the state of Tamil Nadu, where a 70,000-square-foot facility would be built and would offer master’s and doctorate programs for about 300 students in engineering and science.
All academic and research functions would be overseen by Tech. Tuition and fees, admissions criteria and degree requirements would be the same in India as in the United States.
"It would be a Virginia Tech degree," Provost Mark McNamee told the delegation.
…In 1999, Tech began offering a master’s degree in information technology in conjunction with the S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research in Mumbai. The university has since established other projects and ties in India. Officials estimate about 500 Tech alumni live in the country’s southern region.
But the plan for an Indian campus is subject to passage of the foreign universities bill winding its way through the Indian Parliament. Some in India worry that allowing foreign universities in the country will increase tuition and decrease quality in the already struggling higher education sector.
Under current law, foreign universities may offer degree programs only in partnership with existing Indian institutions.
The new bill has been championed by India’s Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, who visited Tech on Monday with about a dozen other dignitaries. They were scheduled to meet with Tech President Charles Steger later in the day.
… Estimates for the total cost of the project do not yet exist, he said. But officials expect a capital outlay of $5 million will be required.
The India campus would help Tech compete for more sponsored research contracts, as well as give the university a presence in an economy supported by 1.2 billion people. Only China, with its population of 1.3 billion, is larger.
For India, the bill could help stem the tide of students streaming to American, European and Australian universities. In 2007, a government commission in India urged that the country increase its number of universities from 350 to 1,500 by 2015. Investment by foreign universities is one way to achieve that growth.
… Under the pending bill, Tech could not send revenue from India back to the United States. Likewise, Tech may use none of its state funding to establish the Indian campus, De Datta said.
Sibal has visited other American universities interested in building campuses in India, including Boston University, Georgetown University, Harvard and Yale.
According to De Datta, the Indian Parliament is expected to vote on the foreign universities bill within the next six months.
Virginia Tech has found an Indian partner for these three centres — Centre for Critical, Technical and Advanced Science, Virginia Bio Informatics Centre and Virginia Transport and Technical Institute — that are likely to be operational within a year.
… Virginia Tech has also signed a memorandum of understanding with MARG Swarnabhoomi group. The institution will be called Virginia Tech MARG Swarnabhoomi, India, and it will be the varsity’s first campus outside the US.
US-based Duke University – ranked 14th in the QS World University Rankings – is planning to set up a campus in India. However, the university management is yet to decide on the location. According to sources, it is looking for around 25 acres to set up its campus either in Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh or Pune.
"We will start with a business school in the campus that will offer a diploma programme. This is a part of our plans of having a globally dispersed campus. We are looking at China and India and the campus in China is already underway," said Jaivir Singh, advisor to the dean of the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University.
The expansion is part of the varsity’s plans of setting up its global campuses in Dubai, Russia, China and India.
Duke university is one of the first international institutes to announce its plans of establishing its India campus after the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) gave its approval to allow foreign universities to setup their campuses in India in March.
However, the Foreign Education Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010 is still pending in Parliament. The bill, which was to be taken up during the monsoon session of Parliament, would now be taken up during the winter session.
According to the bill, any foreign varsity entering India will have to create a $12-million corpus fund and profits will not be allowed to be expatriated to shareholders. The universities would also have to reinvest 75 per cent of profit in the school or university and the rest would become a part of the corpus fund.
Foreign universities, however, will have the right to form their own fee structure and admission rules.
Duke University said investment will not be an issue as it already satisfies the criteria set by the proposed bill.
In fact, Duke university is also looking at setting up a campus in South Africa and South America by the end of this calendar year. Like Yale, Brown and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), it is also in talks with the MHRD on partnering the upcoming 14 innovation universities. Yale and Brown, however, are not looking at setting up an India campus.
"We would like to partner the innovation universities in the space of information technology, science and the qualitative side of engineering that will make the youth employable. However, our immediate plans are to consolidate all our programmes in the country under one roof," Singh added.
Kalahandi’s Sardar Raja’s Medical College and Hospital (SRMCH), the foundation-stone for which was laid by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on February 8, 2004 at Jaring, named Naveen Town, is yet to cater to the needs of the region full-fledged.
Even after six years, the pending work of the hostel construction is yet to be completed.
Initially, the State Government had provided 25 acres of land at Jaring, en route Bhawanipatna to Junagarh, and the Western Odisha Development Council (WODC) had sanctioned Rs 10 crore (out of which Rs 9 crore has been received) for the establishment of the SRMCH.
The ongoing work began to slowdown when its chairman was convicted in a case by the Madras High Court ten months ago.
… However, Raja’s two sons often visit the Jaring-based SRMCH from Tamil Nadu and hope for its bright future.
CEO Tarun Mishra told The Pioneer that in the absence of the chairman, all its staffers are apparently losing confidence.
Mishra also informed that the trust has enough funds and all its 83 staff members get their salaries in time, but the pace of the work is yet to pick up.
He said that earlier the WODC CEO Aswini Mishra, Kalinga Hospital director Saheb Sahu, Junagarh MLA Gobardhan Das and Berhampur Medical College principal Sunamali Bag had held a review meeting on the hospital campus for speeding up the work.
The SRMCH had signed an MOU with the State Government to complete it in a five-year period, but the period of the MoU has already elapsed.
… Under the Selvan Educational and Charitable Trust, Vadakangulam in Tamil Nadu, the SRMCH has already spent around Rs 25-30 crore and the WODC has funded Rs 9 crore for the building construction and purchase of equipment.
The hospital’s 100-bed facility was first inaugurated on December 9, 2006.
It was again inaugurated on March 18, 2007 with its 200-bed facility followed by its last inauguration of 300-bed on July 27, 2007.
Facilitated with all types of equipment, the hospital work is now being handled by three doctors only, with a medicine specialist, pediatrician and one dentist on duty.
Nearby villagers come to the hospital and take advantage of it as far as possible. It requires appointment of 12 doctors for full-fledged operation.
… The hospital has facilities of an ICU, two X-ray wards, ECG, ultra sound, 3 OTs, but due to insufficient doctors machines are hardly used.
The positive part is that the hospital is somewhat functional and has 300 beds and the trust has spend much more than what it received from WODC. But considering that even the private medical colleges in Bhubaneswar are running at a loss, a private medical college in Kalahandi does not have a good chance of being self-sustaining. The government needs to step in and either take over the infrastructure, add the necessary missing infrastructure and make it a government medical college OR agree to pay the full tuition (at market rates) of at least 20 students/batch for the next five years. The latter will guarantee some cash flow to the trust and perhaps make it easier for them to operate the medical college.
In https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/4059 we mentioned about some of the national tutorials that have now set shop in Bhubaneswar. A close friend and elder of mine (Sandip Dasverma) whom I respect a lot was surprised (and even dismayed) that I gave space to them here, and was wondering how come I am promoting institutes that to him are so harmful to our society.
I have mixed thoughts and feelings about the whole thing, so I decided I will write my thoughts and feelings, which at this point may not be fully coherent.
1. In Orissalinks we are writing about *all* kinds of educational and HRD infrastructure and opportunities in Odisha. When we write about ITI or Diploma or vocational schools we are not necessarily promoting them; nor it is our intention that every body should do ITI or a diploma. (On the other hand we do not think there is anything wrong in going to an ITI or doing a Diploma.) We cover them so that these pages serve as a dynamic directory of opportunities and infrastructure of various kinds. In that sense IIT tutorials are educational and HRD infrastructure elements and we cover them. Our coverage does not necessarily mean we promote them. In case of ITI and Diploma institutions, having them listed here helps industries who may be considering to move to Odisha.
2. To us IIT tutorials are HRD infrastructure elements that for whatever reason are an important component of a city/town/metro/population-hub. Students are looking for them, the parents are looking for them, the top ones at other locations have been successful in sending large numbers to the IITs, and parents in Odisha due to the lack of such institutes have sent their kids out of state. Moreover, Odisha has been sending comparatively very few students to IITs, thus not taking advantage of the opportunity provided by the well-funded and reputed IITs. So in that sense having top national coaching classes in Odisha is good. The kids who want to go there need not now go to or be sent to (by their parents) locations out of state and hopefully there will be more number of people getting to IITs from Odisha because of the presence of these nationally reputed tutorials in Odisha.
Hopefully we have clarified why we covered IIT tutorials here; We covered them because as the situation in India is now, they are an important educational infrastructure of a place/town/city/metro.
Thats that, but what do we think about these tutorials and their alleged harmful impact on the education system and society. To us the issue is not so simple nor black and white. To initiate a debate we will put some pointers and arguments.
Coaching classes in various countries and their purpose is given here. In India, coaching classes are a reality and they thrive because (i) admission to top schools is extremely competitive and (ii) the admission process is fairly well defined. In this regard one may read the article at http://hosted.law.wisc.edu/wilj/issues/24/1/steiner.pdf which explains why cram schools for getting law license is common in many other countries but not in the USA.
Coaching classes are not so common for college admission in the USA because of two main reasons: Decent students can fairly easily get into decent universities in most states; and admission is not based on a single exam and the process is not very clear and on purpose not well explained to the public.
At this point the fuzzy processes adopted for admissions in US institutions will not work in India as there will be a lot of chance for corruption. One of the aura behind the IIT entrance exams and its admission process is the lack of corruption in the process of IIT admission. Many a professors and IIT directors’ kids have not been able to get into IITs. That is not the case in most US universities (even the most elite and most competitive ones) where kids of alumni, faculty and big donors may have an inside track to admission.
Recently a committee chaired by Prof Damodar Acharya has been formed to revamp the IIT admission process. Among other things they are considering to take into account the marks obtained in the 12th grade. I am not sure if that will eliminate the coaching classes. The coaching classes will just adopt and start teaching how to also ace the 12th exam.
However it is the case that mastering (how to answer) the kind of questions asked in the IIT entrance exam requires coaching beyond what is taught in the regular school curriculum. If the question pattern was changed to closely follow the regular school curriculum then coaching classes will possibly be less effective and thus their attraction could possibly decrease. But the questions may then be too simple making it difficult to pick 10,000 out of 5 lakhs. Also, there is a reason behind the kind of hard questions that are asked in the IIT entrance exams. Students with aptitude to answer such questions are good at problem solving and thus the kind of students the IITs are looking for. But IITs have not been able to figure out how to separate these students from students who have trained (and been coached) to be successful in the IIT entrance exams.
It is common in India to believe in the notion of "inherent ability" which is behind the elusive goal of finding students who have the inherent ability versus students who apparently do not have that ability but train hard (in the coaching classes) and get through the entrance exams.
But this view is being challenged. See the book review at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/books/review/Paul-t.html?ref=books. Following is a quote: "David Shenk with “The Genius in All of Us,” which argues that we have before us not a “talent scarcity” but a “latent talent abundance.” Our problem “isn’t our inadequate genetic assets,” but “our inability, so far, to tap into what we already have.” The truth is “that few of us know our true limits, that the vast majority of us have not even come close to tapping what scientists call our ‘unactualized potential.’ ” At first it would seem that Shenk, the author of thoughtful books on information overload, memory loss and chess, has veered into guru territory. But he has assembled a large body of research to back up his claims. … Shenk doesn’t neglect the take-home point we’re all waiting for, even titling a chapter “How to Be a Genius (or Merely Great).” The answer has less in common with the bromides of motivational speakers than with the old saw about how to get to Carnegie Hall: practice, practice, practice. Whatever you wish to do well, Shenk writes, you must do over and over again, in a manner involving, as Ericsson put it, “repeated attempts to reach beyond one’s current level,” which results in “frequent failures.” This is known as “deliberate practice,” and over time it can actually produce changes in the brain, making new heights of achievement possible.
In light of the above, is it really right to look down on students who worked hard for whatever number of years in a coaching class and trained themselves so as to succeed in the IIT entrance exam? Can we really fault the coaching classes who provide the students the opportunity to train, train and train? Who are we to tell that train, train, train following a goal or someone’s life’s ambition is bad? Do we do that with respect to an athlete or an aspiring musician? No, we are impressed by their dedication.
Few years back IITs changed their requirement for admission and now one can enter an IIT only the year he/she passes the 12th or the next year. This was aimed at stopping people from spending multiple years in coaching schools in preparation for IIT. I guess it addresses that problem but raises other questions such as: Why is it wrong to work hard and long and prepare? Why can not some one decide to pursue an engineering degree at whatever age they become interested in? The later is a problem in most programs in India and is understandable because of the resource crunch. Coming back to the former: Why is it wrong to work hard and long and prepare? Does the society penalise an athlete or a music student who decides to fully focus on their goal of being a world class athlete or a musician? In case of the IITs, the problem is that most students who work hard and long to get in, do not often work hard once they get into the IITs. But then the IITs should design their course work accordingly? Also, they should assign majors for most students (say 80%) after the first year. That way students after they get in will have to work hard to get the major of their choice.
Who are bad? The students going to coaching classes? Their parents? The owner of the coaching class? The faculty at the coaching classes? The System? If it is the system then as we mentioned we can not fault the nature of the admission process as a non-transperent one (used in the US universities) will not work in today’s India where corruption is endemic and because of that even national tests are conducted for clerical jobs in the Railways and Banks. So the only approach is to have enough good institutions/colleges/universities so that the situation is not as competitive as it is now. But even then there will be coveted institutions and admissions to them will be extremely competitive and their will be coaching classes for them. Just look at France, where 5% of its high school graduates spend 2-3 years in cram schools so that they can get into the Grandes Ecoles.
The increase in the number of IITs, NITs, central universities, the creation of new IIITs, IISERs/NISER and the plan for 14 innovation universities will increase the number of good institutions in India and that would be helpful. They will also help in the more serious issue that plagued India where most good students out of high school went for engineering and medicine.
However, India needs to figure out how to improve the standards at its state universities and colleges which have degraded badly over the years. Just creating new creamy layers on the top and letting the bottom rot will worsen the situation.
I hope the above thoughts explain why I don’t agree with the crowd and follow the fashion these days among many who put all the blame in the world at the door of coaching classes. I can see some adverse results (such as the story about an IIT JEE number 1 who was coached three years before he got JEE 1 but flunked in many of his classes in the first year) but it is not easy for me to just point blank think coaching classes as evils. In fact there may be evidence to the contrary. The coaching classes seems to have helped students from far flung areas without access to good schools to get trained and get into the IITs. The success of the super 30 in Bihar has now prompted the Punjab government to start similar coaching for rural students in Punjab. Similar plans are also afoot in Tamil Nadu and Chhatisgarh. The Orissa government had also announced similar plans in collaboration with the Institute of Mathematics & Applications. I am not sure if that has been implemented.
Now some other related thoughts.
In my school days, middle class parents would find a tuition master or send their kids for tution if the kids were not doing well in school. So being "tutored" had a negative connotation similar to the connotation of "remedial classes" in US schools. Of course in US now parents and kids are being sensitized to not look down on students with reading and learning disabilities. But things started changing in India and students doing well also started getting tutored to do even better, and at times this was encouraged by the teachers themselves, some with motivation to augment their income (their pay was always pathetic). Some of these teachers neglected in their teaching in their regular classes giving bad names to the "tutors". These two underlined aspects have contributed to the negative connotation behind coaching in the mind of many.
Personally, I have never had a tuition master in my life. I did take postal coaching (Agrawal Classes) in my 12th class (ISc 2nd year) to prepare for IIT and got in that year. The postal coaching worked as follows: I would get booklets with some theory and solved examples and some questions. I would solve the questions myself and send it for evaluation. Some one (a faculty) at the coaching center would evaluate my solutions and give me a grade. Thats all. This was better than the alternative of reading the IIT entrance guide books and doing the exercises there as in case of the later, one was not sure if the solution was correct or not. Also, in case of the postal coaching, the solutions had to be sent in within certain time, thus creating a discipline on the preparation. I have not met a single person in my life who got through the IIT entrance exam without preparing specifically for IIT outside of the class syllabus and that meant at least going through the IIT entrance guide books.
So I have no direct idea about how the current classroom coaching classes operate. I only know from second and third hand descriptions.
Having said all this, what would be my advice to students in their 11th and 12th grade?
First, one need not focus on IITs, engineering or medicine. India now provides successful careers in many many fields. One can go for science and math in the top institutes such as IIISERs, NISER, ISI, etc. One can go for law in one of the National Law Schools. One can go for Economics and other social science subjects in various good colleges. One can go for accountancy and other commerce subjects. One can be successful in any of those. Also, down the road the IISERs, NISER, National Law schools and the Innovation Universities will have similar name recognition as the IITs.
However, if one aims to get into the IITs, until further changes happen one still need to prepare beyond their Class 12 syllabus. Here I would recommend the aspiring students to get into the best coaching class (in terms of their past performance) that is available. In that regard it is good that Bhubaneswar now has some of the nationally known top ones in FITJEE, Vidya Mandir and Resonance. However, in case the teachers in those coaching classes do not emphasize the following, I would have one advice to the students: There is no substitute to the ability and understanding one develops when one is pondering on a question (on his/her own) for hours or sometimes days and is eventually able to figure out how to solve it. Memorizing a trick told by the teacher to solve that question is an extremely poor substitute and does not develop the critical thinking ability that the IITs expect their students to have. On the positive side, the periodic exams conducted by the coaching classes have some advantages. Doing well in them and getting encouragement from the teachers who are able to compare a current coaching class student with successful students from yesteryears gives the students the much needed confidence. (In general I have noticed that less students from Odisha get into IITs because of the confidence problem during their 11-12th. But where ever the good ones go, they do well and become very successful in their careers.) Also, the coaching classes provide a routine and a discipline in the preparation. This is hard for a 16-17yr old to do on his/her own.
In this regard one may note that bad coaching classes or not using the coaching classes in the right way could be very harmful. As an anecdotal example, a nephew of mine was telling me that he was not confident about his IIT exam as he did not have a tuition master in subject X, though he had tuition in Y and Z. After the IIT entrance exam he said he did well in X but not in Y, Z. I explained him and he agreed that in X, he studied himself and developed the understanding while in Y and Z, he was told various problem solving tricks; but that did not develop a deeper understanding in his mind and he could not apply them to the questions he encountered in the IIT entrance exam.
The following two M. Tech programmes will be offered for faculty members of AICTE-recognized programmes of Engineering Colleges:
1. M. Tech in Electrical Engineering
2. M. Tech in Electronics & Communication Engineering
The programmes will be offered from January 2010.
Programme Features
The features of these programmes and the mode of delivery are elucidated below.
• Each programme will be of three-year duration.
• These programmes will be offered in the holidays and beyond office hours on weekdays to facilitate the teachers employed in the engineering colleges to attend the classes.
• The programme may be offered during summer vacation.
• Since the potential student base for these programmes exist in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar, these programmes will be offered in the Extension Centers of the Institute at Kolkata and Bhubaneswar.
• A mixed mode of teaching through video-conferencing and face-to-face interaction will be adopted in these programmes.
• A faculty will deliver a lecture at any of the locations (primarily Kharagpur) and the students at Kolkata and Bhubaneswar will be able to attend the lecture and interact with the faculty through video-conferencing.
• The tutorials, seminars, and comprehensive viva-voce examinations will be conducted also in the above-stated mode, as and when required.
• The recorded lectures, tutorials, and interactions will be recorded in the two Extension Centres and will be stored at the library of each extension center. They will be available to the students for study during specified hours.
• Students cannot copy these recorded lectures.
• The recorded lectures, tutorials, and interactions will not be used in subsequent semesters as a substitute for live presentations.
• Laboratory classes will be conducted in one weekend of every month at IIT Kharagpur campus at Kharagpur.
• Laboratory classes may also be conducted at the respective extension centers in virtual mode, depending on the availability of the required facilities.
• Projects and supervisors will be assigned to the students by the Programme Coordinator after the completion of first two semesters.
• Students will carry out their project work at their institutions and have to be in constant touch with their supervisors. The sponsoring organizations are required to provide laboratory facilities to the students to carry out their M.Tech project works.
• There will be two class tests in every subject. The class tests will be conducted at Kharagpur when the students come to the Institute during the last weekend of a month for the laboratory class.
• Mid-Semester and End-semester examinations will be conducted at the respective Extension Centers with faculty members as invigilators.
• Comprehensive Viva-Voce will be conducted through video-conferencing.
Number of Students to be Admitted
• Twenty-five in each programme at each Extension Center.
Programme Fee
• Fee for each programme is Rs.2 lakh for each student to be paid in two instalments – the first instalment of Rs.1 lakh to be paid at the time of admission and the second instalment of Rs.1 lakh to be paid one year after the admission. The programme fee includes the tuition fee and the examination fee.
Eligibility for Admission :
• Faculty members associated with the AICTE-recognized programmes of engineering colleges are eligible for admission into the programmes.
• An applicant must have passed B. Tech in appropriate branch with a minimum of 60% marks in the final qualifying examinations (for SC/ST candidates it is 55%).
Application Fee
• The Application Fee of Rs. 2,000.00 for general candidates and Rs. 1,000.00 for SC/ST candidates should be payable by Demand Draft drawn in favour of ‘IIT Kharagpur’ on any nationalized bank payable at Kharagpur.
Undertaking from the Sponsoring Institution
The sponsoring engineering college must give an undertaking that the college will upgrade its own facility (such as laboratories, computer facilities, and library) to enable the sponsored student to carry out his/her M. Tech thesis work in that college.
Selection of Candidates
The candidates will be asked to appear at a written test and an interview to be held at each Extension Center.
Some time back we had suggested something similar. See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/501. Even with the IIT Kharagpur’s program there is need for more such programs. Perhaps IIIT Bhubaneswar and BPUT can make efforts in this direction.
… The proposed Corporation will give loans on easy terms which will be repaid by the borrowers only after getting jobs, he told a news conference here.
Sibal, …, said talks are on with the Planning Commission and "we hope the Corporation will be set-up during the 12th Five-Year Plan".
He said approximately 22 crore children go to schools in the country, of whom only an estimated 2.5 per cent pursue higher education in universities.
In developed countries, the percentage of students pursuing higher education stands at 40 per cent, he said.
I think this is a very good idea. This will enable more students to pursue higher education and pay for it; It will enable government colleges to be able to charge for reasonable tuition that can be used towards improving the college infrastructure (note: The infrastructure in most government colleges is in shambles, yet they don’t dare to increase the normal tuition; the only thing they do to raise some resources is to start some self-financed courses); it will enable the establishment of more private colleges, and in general it will improve the quality and quantity of higher education opportunities.
While in the past there has been concern about repayment of such loans, with the creation and usage of unique ID for everyone in India, the loans taken can be made part of everyone’s record and its repayment can be easily tracked.
The government can also use these loans and their repayment as a tool to achieve its goal. For example, it can have a policy of (partially) waiving the loans for people who teach for 5 years and thus encourage more people to go into teaching.
For the kind of scheme that is needed for India, it will help to look at the scheme used in Australia. That kind of a scheme adapted to the Indian context will work well for India.
Sibal said the government wants to set up 14 innovation universities on various themes and these institutions will earn revenue from various areas, including research.
Brown, however, differed from Sibal on the proposed economic model for the Innovation Universities and said that major funding will have to come from tuition fee.
"This is not going to work. In our university, 50 percent of revenue comes from tuition fee despite the university having a billion dollar of Endowment fund. The universities here will have to depend on tuition fee," he said.
Sibal retorted back, saying that the investment involved in setting a university in India will be less than the cost in the US.
He said institutes should not be charge exorbitantly on students. They can generate revenue from other sources.
The government will set up a Higher Education Finance Corporation to provide funding to poor students for study. The students can pay back the money over a period of time, he said. The HRD Ministry has prepared a bill to set up the corporation.
The loans will be made available for students pursuing professional courses, he said.
I am a bit confused about the innovation universities being on various themes. I thought they were supposed to be multi-dsiciplinary universities aiming to become like Oxford, Cambridge and Berkely.
The APU will be an institution of excellence in the area of education to develop outstanding education thinkers & leaders, and also serve as a think tank for long-term education change and sustainable development. Akin to the IITs, AIIMS, IIMs and the NLSUI respectively focussed on Science & Technology, Medicine, Management and Law, the APU will in effect be an IIE focussed on Education.
The APU’s vision is to promote, conceptualize and create a paradigm shift through development of outstanding leadership, research, knowledge and ideas for education and allied development sectors.
The objectives of the APU include
Creating Intellectual Capital: through research based theory and outstanding, creative and socially committed leaders and thinkers. Expand the frontiers of knowledge in education and allied disciplines
Practice informed by sound theory: Serve as a national education resource center and present an alternative authentic voice for educational and social change
Demonstrating models for effective development of teachers and education leaders
The APU has been set up through a section 25 company and will be autonomous and self-funded with no dependency on funds from the Karnataka Government.
The Azim Premji University Ordinance 2009, was passed by the Karnataka Government in November 2009.
The APU is being set up on 50 acres of land in Sarjapur, near Bangalore. The land is being provided by the section 25 company, which is acquiring it directly from the owners.
It will be a fully residential university.
The APU will not be aiming to recover all its expenditure from tuition fees. Any budgetary gap between income and expenditure will be bridged by funds provided by Section 25 company being established by Azim Premji.
The first students will join the university in 2011. The APU will start by offering masters level courses and eventually also run a Ph.D. program.
Two lessons from the above:
1. Orissa should move fast on Vedanta University so that it does not lose the first movers advantage to efforts like above that are also backed by people with deep pockets.
The curriculum has been designed to impart an integrated and comprehensive training as per the standard of International Maritime Organization and guidelines issued by the Director General of Shipping, Government of India. The course has covered all aspects of seafaring profession to Deck and Engine Ratings.
Apart from the theory and in-house practical classes, the trainees are exposed to extensive practical training onboard Port crafts, Marine Workshop, Electrical Workshop of Paradip Port Trust as per convenience of Paradip Port Authority. The trainees are also given physical, parade and swimming training. The Academy organizes a number of ships’ visit to different types of ships berthed at Paradip Port. The medium of instruction is in English only. The trainees have to undergo the following STCW (Standard of Training Certification and Watch-keeping) courses during the training period at their own cost.
Pass in 10th standard from a recognized Board with Science, Mathematics and English as subjects. Candidates should have 40% in aggregate in 10th standard and (40% in English either in 10th or in +2 levels.)
Age:
Must have completed 17½ years and must be below 25 years of age as on date of commencement of course.
Medical standard:
All the candidates should be physically fit for the sea service as per Merchant Shipping Act (Medical Examination for Seafarers) Rules, 2000. Eyesight should be 6/6 with normal vision – no colour blindness and height – 158 cm, weight – 48 kgs.
How to apply:
Application forms and prospectus are to be downloaded from our website www.orissamaritime.com and completed application forms should be submitted to the Academy along with a demand draft of Rs.100/-(one hundred) and attested xerox copy of relevant documents.
Selection procedure:
The intake capacity of the Academy is 40(forty) per batch. In case eligible candidates do not receive any call letter prior 10 days before commencement of the course, they should contact the Academy over telephone to inquire about the status of their application form. The training commences on 1st of January and 1st of July every year.
The short listed (eligible) candidates will be called to the Academy for selection. In the selection procedure, the candidate has to undergo a medical test. In order to ascertain the merit of the candidates, the Academy may conduct a written and viva-voce test in English. The applicant will have to attend the above tests at their own expenses at Paradip.
The selection will be on strictly merit basis. There will be a reservation of 15% of seats for SC/ST candidates and 10% for the children of Paradip Port Trust employees. However, if the number of required candidates in the above categories is not available, the vacancy will be offered to the general candidates.
Course fees:
The course fees is Rs.50,000/- (Rupees fifty thousand only). The entire fee is payable in one installment in shape of a demand draft drawn in favour of “Orissa Maritime Academy” payable at Paradip on the date of admission. The course fee includes tuition fees, uniform, boarding and lodging during the stay in the academy.
No stipend is payable during the training period. As per D.G Shipping orders, 50% discount in course fees will be given to female candidates.
The candidate has to deposit caution money of Rs.5000/- (Rupees five thousand only), which will be refunded to him/her without any interest after adjusting the claim of the Academy towards any loss/damage/fine for any indiscipline act. The course fees for five STCW courses are extra to be borne by candidates.
Hostel facility:
The Academy has got its own hostel inside the premises, which provides lodging and boarding. Each trainee will be provided with a cot, cupboard, bed sheet, mosquito net, pillow with cover, mattress, utensils etc.
…
ISSUE OF CDC
After completing the Pre-Sea Training (G.P.) and STCW’95 Basic Safety Courses, the successful trainees are eligible to obtain the Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC) from the Shipping Master, Government of India. The Academy will provide required assistance to the individual candidates to obtain the CDC.
He said institutes should not be charge exorbitantly on students. They can generate revenue from other sources. 