The common exam for entrance to all engineering institutes from IITs and to local engineering colleges seems to have hit rough weather due to opposition from some IIT managements. From 2013, the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) was all set to replace all other engineering entrance tests across the country with most state governments giving their consent. However some IITs and their student senates have expressed displeasure over the way the change was being initiated.
Highly placed sources in IIT Council, the apex governing body for all 15 IITs, confirmed to TOI that differences had cropped up in their discussions about JEE with the government. Director of a renowned IIT said on condition of anonymity that the government was pushing through the changes without taking every stakeholder into confidence. "The government should have first come to IIT Council and known their concerns. The Council would have then reached out to all IITs, where academic and students' senate would have given their views. Once we take everyone's views, only then could a consensus be reached. You just can't walk in one fine day and order things changed," he said.
A senior faculty member of another IIT said, "Our institutes have been doing great for over half a century and now suddenly the government thinks there is a problem. We don't oppose or question the government's intention for a common exam but the methodology is wrong. IITs are being asked to give minimum 40 per cent weightage to board exams for admissions which is not right. Cheating during board exams is rampant in many states. They cannot be taken as a common benchmark. IITs must retain the right to decide the criteria for admissions else the standard will go down."
In certain IITs, the students' senates too have opposed the new JEE citing dilution of admission criteria and conveyed the same to their board of governors. There have been reports that the All India IIT Faculty Federation has written to HRD ministry opposing the government's approach but ministry officials deny having received any such letter.
While HRD minister Kapil Sibal was unavailable for comment, his private secretary Uma Shankar said everyone concerned had been consulted. Shankar said, "Our ministry has tried to get views from faculty, students and other stakeholders to reach a consensus. For a whole month, we had a special website where all stakeholders were asked to blog their views. I am myself an IITian and hold my institute in high esteem but we have to find a solution to the problems that plague our system."
The problems according to Shankar are of having too many entrance exams and an education system (for Std XI and XII) that functions outside the school system itself. "There are about 180 exams in the country for engineering admissions. Everyone now depends on coaching centres and ignores board exams. Students get admitted to a college that discreetly ties up with a coaching institute and marks their attendance. Students don't go to college hence teachers don't teach. Is this the kind of education we want," asked Shankar.
A meeting has been scheduled on April 24 between the government and a special committee comprising select IIT directors.
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| TURNING A NEW PAGE: Polytechnics are set to see improve- ment in capacity-building, skills development and infrastructure. Photo: V. Ganesan |
The Australia-India Council has embarked upon initiatives for greater engagement with Indian institutions in vocational training.
Soon, Indian students interested in pursuing a vocational course in Australia can get a certificate without physically leaving India. With stricter visa conditions imposed on students interested in such courses, initiatives have been taken to provide skills-development to Indian institutions.
On a visit to The Hindu, the board members of the Australia-India Council (AIC) said vocational education is shaping up as a major area of interest and there will be greater engagement in this sector with the faculty and students of Indian institutions.
Support for vocational training will include determining the course-content, providing certification and training teachers. “It will also involve capacity-building and infrastructure improvement in polytechnics,” said David Holly, Consul-General for South India.
To ensure a safe environment for international students, the federal and State governments in Australia signed the International Students Strategy that evolved in 2010. “This requires registration of institutions, prescribes a code of conduct for educational agents, ensures safety of international students,” said Mr. Holly.
ONLINE ACCESS
In addition, students will be able to access online publications available at Australian universities such as Monash University, University of New South Wales and University of Queensland, key partners in AIC.
“The University of Madras is one institution that may be involved in this programme as it currently runs an Australia programme. The initiative will facilitate 15 - 20 students' access to online resources at once,” he said, adding that the programme will be funded by the AIC.
The Board members said the council plans to provide linkages in areas that have not been targeted previously. Gillian Whitlock, a board member, highlighted new areas in which knowledge partnerships can be fostered between the two countries. “Heritage studies, film and media studies and cultural studies have not been traditional areas in which exchanges have been made previously,” she said emphasising that more work could be done to benefit students.
The Knight Review that was released last year has made recommendations to enhance the student visa programme. “A range of areas were reassessed making it particularly beneficial for students wanting to study in Australia and to ensure a quality level of education for the volume of students who apply. Recommendations have been made to consider English test scores apart from the IELTS,” said Mr. Holly.
RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS
With higher education as a key driver to improved bilateral relations, the top Australian universities are also scouting for research partners with premier science and technical institutions in the country, especially in south India.
The five premier technical universities — Curtin University, University of South Australia, RMIT University, Queensland University of Technology and University of Technology, Sydney — are visiting Chennai and Bangalore to identify specific discipline areas and specific relationships so that they could apply for funding of exchange of research scholars and faculty.
“There are key professors with connections to India and who have the capacity to stimulate new research underpinning for funding from the Australian government (mainly) and the Indian government,” said Prof. Jeanette Hacket, chairperson, during her visit to Chennai.
The students of Krishna Menon Memorial Government Women’s College engage themselves in hanging poems of students from various colleges across India on Poetree.
“For pecking order, dare me ram,My body mine, and I, no thing.Bartered to be, I seek not that sham.
That’s not my nikah, no, not mine,” writes Shamla Musthaffa Mohamed, an M.A. English studies student from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi in her poem That’s Not My Nikah.
That’s not my nikah, no, not mine,” writes Shamla Musthaffa Mohamed, an M.A. English studies student from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi in her poem That’s Not My Nikah.
Shamla Musthaffa Mohamed’s poem and around a hundred other poems by students of various colleges in India hang on the branches of the ‘Poetree’ at Krishna Menon Memorial Government Women’s College, Kannur.
It was an evening like never before. Wizard’s plumes (appoppan thaadi) and red manchadi seeds flying in the air created an air of euphoria — for it was the launch of a new campus culture.
The Media Club, a joint venture of the departments of Journalism and English of the college, has set up a unique ‘space’ for campus creativity called Poetree. A tree on the campus has been baptised by that name and poems, stories and other literary works of students from colleges all over India will continue to hang from it. Entries will be changed weekly.
The programme was inaugurated by the renowned Malayalam poet Veerankutty on March 22 this year at the open auditorium of the college.
Poetree has attained great popularity and entries from a number of campuses have already been received, right from JNU and St Stephen’s College New Delhi to Shanti Niketan Kolkata and Hyderabad Central University, not to forget mentioning several other varsities all over India.
“As the name reflects, Poetree is a tree that captures the soaring imagination of students from different campuses, reflecting their thoughts in poems, prose or in the form of short stories —irrespective of lingual or regional differences”, says Varsha Pramod, coordinator.
“The idea is to exhibit writings from other campuses in India,’’ says writer V.H. Nishad, convenor of the Media Club, who also teaches journalism at the campus.
“In today’s fast paced world, Poetree marks a return to nature. With over 100 poems that have blossomed on its branches, the Poetree is a wonderful sight,’’ says Nasooha M., second year B.A. English Literature student, and also a budding writer from the campus.
The Department of Psychology and the Department of Nutrition, St. Ann's College for Women, Hyderabad observed the “Brain Awareness Week” with a multi-disciplinary workshop “The Brain Matters – Implications of Brain Research for Mental Health”.
The workshop sponsored by the UGC was to promote and provide the necessary impetus for interdisciplinary research in the areas of psychology, nutrition, and health. Prof. K.Subba Rao, School of Medical Sciences, University of Hyderabad was the chief guest.
The keynote address on the Emotional Brain was delivered by Prof. E.S. Krishnamoorthy, Senior Consultant in Clinical Neurology & Neuropsychiatry, Chennai. The other speakers at the workshop included Dr. M.S. Reddy, Psychiatrist who spoke on Depression and Dr. Sangeetha Menon, Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, IISc, Bangalore on Brain and Consciousness. Dr. Bhaktiar Choudhury, Senior Consultant Sports Medicine, elaborated on the benefits of physical exercise for the brain while Dr. Prasad Rao, Psychiatrist unravelled the enigma of schizophrenia.
Dr. Braj Bhushan, Associate Professor of Psychology, IIT Kanpur took the participants through the topic of mental health in the light of Brain-Behaviour Research. M. Thomas Kishore of University of Hyderabad spoke on neurocognitive markers of autism. The experts from nutrition – Dr. Sylvia Fernandez Rao, scientist NIN, and Latha Sashi, consultant nutritionist enlightened the participants on the importance of nutrition for the brain in the prenatal and developing years.
Certificates were distributed to the participants. Dr. K. Anthonamma, Principal; Mary Leena, Provincial Superior Hyderabad Province; Lata Subramanya, Head Department of Psychology and Meena Kumari, Head, Department of Nutrition also spoke.
V.S.K. Murthy Balijepalli and Vanteru Mahendra Reddy selected for their research project considered as path-breaking in their respective fields
Two Telugu students have made the State proud making it into MIT's India TR35 2012 young technology innovators list among the 20 selected across the country for their innovative projects.
The list of innovators was recently released by the Indian Edition of MIT Technology review for the year 2012.
All the chosen innovators are under 35 years and have contributed in diverse areas like computing, transportation, biomedicine, energy, communications, materials and the web.
V.S.K. Murthy Balijepalli and Vanteru Mahendra Reddy – both presently pursuing research at IIT Bombay hail from the State and their research is being considered as path-breaking in their respective fields. While V.S.K. Murthy made it to the list for developing a method to estimate electricity cost, grid frequency and load that can help make power networks smarter, Mahendra Reddy was chosen for development of a lab-scale flameless combustion with liquid fuels.
They will present their innovations at the Emerging Technologies conference at Bangalore this month in front of a team of eminent scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) USA.
Mr. Murthy who did his B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from JNTU Hyderabad in 2007 was inducted into Ph.D programme in IIT Bombay based on his B.Tech and M.Tech projects. Mr. Murthy who hails from Vishakapatnam rejected job offers from top companies to do his Ph.D given his interest in research.
His research work has a direct applicability in the forecasting of electricity parameters like Electricity market price, load, wind energy and frequency and has earlier bagged the Department of Science and Technology (DST) - Lockheed Martin innovator award for being in top 50 technologies. Though he has several job offers in the US right now, Mr. Murthy prefers to take up teaching position in the new IITs so that he can pursue his research interests.
On the other hand, Mahender Reddy, alumnus of JNTU Kakinada and IIT Kanpur, got into the list of innovators with his work on suppressing the formation of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbons that are responsible for acid rain.
Offers
Mr. Reddy, who is doing his Ph.D in Aerospace Engineering says that his present work focuses on the development of a laboratory scale flameless combustor with a typical 20 kW thermal input and using kerosene as fuel and air as oxidizer at ambient conditions.
Hailing from Agraharam near Kavali, Mr. Reddy too plans to take up teaching in the IITs rather than going abroad despite several offers beckoning him.
V.S.K. Murthy Balijepalli and Vanteru Mahendra Reddy selected for their research project considered as path-breaking in their respective fields
The list of innovators was recently released by the Indian Edition of MIT Technology review for the year 2012.
The new option offered by the CET board causes a flutter among students.
The Common Entrance Examination (CET) board is providing online counselling facilities to students who make the cut in the entrance test. The students can choose their favourite course and institution on the website itself, in the comfort of their home.
This unconventional method of counselling is implemented only in the All India Engineering Examination (AIEEE). The responses of students who spoke to The Hindu ranged from positive, negative and ambivalent to even bewilderment.
Amala Poli, second PU (PCMB), Mount Carmel College: Online counselling will be more convenient to us. It will save time as we don't have to wait in long queues during the counselling sessions. Moreover, we will get frequent updates about the selection and waiting lists and the chances of student's selection in a desired institution.
However, if online counselling is not planned properly, it will cause chaos and confusion. I prefer online counselling, as just visiting the website at home is more cosy than going to college and waiting there.
Chitra Patil, second PU (PCME), Oxford PU College: It is good now that there is an option for online counselling. Students will have all the details and updates available at their home itself. But this news doesn't help people like me, who don't have Internet access at home.
I would prefer face-to-face counselling, which is more interactive, over online counselling. A
nd we can express our doubts to the panellists in their presence. Interacting with students in the counselling hall can also be helpful.
Bharat Kumar, second PU (PCME), Oxford PU College: This is good news. In this fast-paced world where everyone irrespective of profession wants to manage time perfectly, time management becomes important, which online counselling provides.
This is a good move by the CET board, as online counselling is going to ease my selection of the college. I can surf through the information of the college before I select it.
For me there is not a single disadvantage in this facility as it will help students get rid of the chaotic tediousness of face-to-face counselling.
Arun Thomas, second PU (PCME), St. Joseph PU College: I feel the conventional face-to-face counselling works well now, and there is no need for online counselling.
Access to information in online counselling is limited, and it won't be able to rectify all the confusion and doubts of the process like face-to-face counselling.
Moreover, the experience and information one can get from interactions with a panellist is far better than online counselling.
If I have to choose one among the two, irrespective of the advantages of online counselling, I definitely will opt for the existing method.
Derrick Thomas, second PU (PCMB), St. Joseph PU College: Online counselling will definitely be advantageous. I will be able to select my choice of college in my house after considering real-time suggestions from parents and friends. Also, there have been some loopholes in the counselling involving going to colleges as colleges block seats and then sell them to students or even force the students to take admission in their colleges.
Online counselling is simple, time saving, less laborious and more effective in terms of the result. And the best part is that there will be updates frequently.
The education industry in the state seems to be going bust. Unable to attract students and faculty and not being in a position to maintain the required standards, at least 32 engineering and business management colleges have thrown up their hands and called it a day. Accordingly, the state government has given a green signal to these 32 institutions to shut shop and not admit students from the academic year 2012-13.
It is for the first time that so many colleges are folding up in the state, in sharp contrast to the trend a decade ago when engineering colleges, business schools and pharmaceutical colleges sprang up all over the state. The No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to 21 of the colleges to close down were issued in January while the remaining ones were allowed to close down in February.
It is for the first time that so many colleges are folding up in the state, in sharp contrast to the trend a decade ago when engineering colleges, business schools and pharmaceutical colleges sprang up all over the state. The No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to 21 of the colleges to close down were issued in January while the remaining ones were allowed to close down in February.
Among the colleges going out of business are five engineering, nine MBA, 14 MCA, three pharmacy and one 1 PGDM colleges. The list includes the much publicized colleges such as Malla Reddy Institute of Management Sciences, Secuderabad, Rajahmundry Engineering College, Rajahmundry, Narasimha Reddy PG College, Medchal, Asian School of Business, Ranga Reddy, St Francis Institute of Computer Sciences, Qutbullapur and Anantapur Institute of Management & Sciences. The closure of these colleges is the result of the crisis that set in the technical education field in the state, which was the pioneer in the mass-scale establishment of professional colleges, said sources.
“Even though there is not a single town in the state that does not have an engineering college, very few are known for their quality education. So, students prefer ordinary degree courses over the substandard engineering colleges,” sources in the department of technical education told TOI.
According to the sources, 45 per cent of the seats in the engineering colleges are lying vacant, while the vacancies in business management courses are 38 per cent and 45 per cent in MCA. By the next financial year, many more colleges may call it quits, they added.
The lack of qualified faculty, inability of these institutes to maintain the standards set by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the apex body that controls the technical, MCA and MBA courses in the country, and the inability of these institutions to pay the salaries fixed by the AICTE have also compounded the issue. “There are colleges which have not paid salaries of the faculty for months,” said a lecturer from an engineering college on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Technical education commissioner S Balasubramanyam confirmed to TOI that letters of NOC were issued to 32 colleges for their closure.
Meanwhile, the trend is not unique to Andhra Pradesh alone. The decline of technical education has also set in other states as well, albeit in a small way.
According to D Purandeswari, Union minister of state for human resources development, around 134 business schools across the country are facing closure. Till now, the 134 business management institutions have submitted applications to the AICTE for closure of programmes due to various reasons including poor strength of students.
Last week, Purandeswari informed the Lok Sabha that with 32 such cases, Andhra Pradesh tops the list of colleges shutting shop followed by Rajasthan, where 25 institutions are on the verge of closure. “There are 18 such institutions in Uttar Pradesh, while 14 B-Schools of Maharashtra have requested the AICTE to allow them to down the shutters. The other states are Madhya Pradesh (8), Gujarat (7), Haryana (7), Karnataka (6), Chhattisgarh (5), Punjab (4), Tamil Nadu (2), Himachal Pradesh (1) and Uttarakhand (1),” she said.
It's now official - the common National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to Under Graduate (UG) will be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education ( CBSE) while it will be the National Board of Examination that will conduct the Post Graduate (PG) exams.
India is all set to roll out NEET from 2013-14.
Putting ghosts to rest, the Union health ministry has informed state governments that their existing reservation policies would not be disturbed under the proposed scheme and state wise eligibility merit lists will be prepared for the respective state authorities to admit students for admission in accordance with their admission criteria in the institutions located in the respective states.
The Medical Council of India has also revised the syllabus for NEET-UG.
The qualifying criterion has been changed from percentage of absolute marks to percentile to ensure that no seat remains unfilled. Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Monday "A few state governments had expressed concerns about the proposed NEET particularly with regard to the syllabus for the NEET for UG, reservation of seats, medium of examination, as well as their own preparedness to introduce the scheme from the academic year 2012-13 and whether once introduced some of their seats would go unfilled because of high merit. The government has addressed all the concerns."
The ministry has also set up a coordination Committee "with all relevant stakeholders as members, which will address any issue relating to the admission process, including regional language as medium for conduct of NEET."
NEET would mean a single entrance examination will be held for MBBS and MD courses offered by all 271 medical colleges, 138 run by governments and 133 under private management. These colleges offer over 31,000 seats for MBBS courses and another 11,000 seats for PG degrees.
Experts say NEET would reduce hassles for students appearing for multiple medical exams.
"Once implemented, the NEET would be applicable to all medical colleges which come under the ambit of MCI, including private medical colleges," Azad said.
Among the states that was against the introduction of NEET in 2012 included West Bengal Maharashtra, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa had showed readiness to join NEET from 2013-14 but AP sought exemption for two years, saying it would join from 2014-15.
"At present, about 17 entrance tests are held to fill 32,000 UG seats in medical colleges across the country," a ministry official said.
India is all set to roll out NEET from 2013-14.
Putting ghosts to rest, the Union health ministry has informed state governments that their existing reservation policies would not be disturbed under the proposed scheme and state wise eligibility merit lists will be prepared for the respective state authorities to admit students for admission in accordance with their admission criteria in the institutions located in the respective states.
The Medical Council of India has also revised the syllabus for NEET-UG.
The qualifying criterion has been changed from percentage of absolute marks to percentile to ensure that no seat remains unfilled. Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Monday "A few state governments had expressed concerns about the proposed NEET particularly with regard to the syllabus for the NEET for UG, reservation of seats, medium of examination, as well as their own preparedness to introduce the scheme from the academic year 2012-13 and whether once introduced some of their seats would go unfilled because of high merit. The government has addressed all the concerns."
The ministry has also set up a coordination Committee "with all relevant stakeholders as members, which will address any issue relating to the admission process, including regional language as medium for conduct of NEET."
NEET would mean a single entrance examination will be held for MBBS and MD courses offered by all 271 medical colleges, 138 run by governments and 133 under private management. These colleges offer over 31,000 seats for MBBS courses and another 11,000 seats for PG degrees.
Experts say NEET would reduce hassles for students appearing for multiple medical exams.
"Once implemented, the NEET would be applicable to all medical colleges which come under the ambit of MCI, including private medical colleges," Azad said.
Among the states that was against the introduction of NEET in 2012 included West Bengal Maharashtra, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa had showed readiness to join NEET from 2013-14 but AP sought exemption for two years, saying it would join from 2014-15.
"At present, about 17 entrance tests are held to fill 32,000 UG seats in medical colleges across the country," a ministry official said.
25th Mar, 2012: The Hyderabad City Police has imposed Section 144 Cr Pc till 500 yards around each of the examination centres of the SSC examinations to be held from 26 March (Monday) to 11 April.
According to City Police Commissioner, A K Khan, the assembly of persons at the SSC exam centres is being prohibited to maintain public order during the examination.
However, police officers, military personnel and Home Guards on duty, Flying Squad of Education Department and Bonafide funeral procession have been exempted from the orders.
The Commissioner warned that any person found violating the orders would be liable for prosecution under Section 144 Cr PC.
In another order, the Commissioner extended prohibitory orders around the state Legislative Assembly building. (INN)
Director of Government Examination B Manmadha Reddy, on Tuesday, announced that the SSC Public Examination would be held from Today to 11 April, from 9:30 am to 12 noon.
He said that hall tickets have already been dispatched and delivered to the candidates by the Headmasters.
The hall tickets can also be downloaded from the website www.bseap.org, from Wednesday onwards. Students who have not received hall tickets can download them from the website and get them attested by the Head Master concerned, after photographs are affixed.
The Director has asked all the Chief Superintendents to allow candidates whose hall tickets were thus downloaded and attested, to write the exams. They must also check up students' particulars with the photo attendance sheets, he said. (INN)
He said that hall tickets have already been dispatched and delivered to the candidates by the Headmasters.
The hall tickets can also be downloaded from the website www.bseap.org, from Wednesday onwards. Students who have not received hall tickets can download them from the website and get them attested by the Head Master concerned, after photographs are affixed.
The Director has asked all the Chief Superintendents to allow candidates whose hall tickets were thus downloaded and attested, to write the exams. They must also check up students' particulars with the photo attendance sheets, he said. (INN)
Most students are no longer confused about career goals but are aware of exactly what they want after college, writes Sohini Chakravorty
When it comes to college life, the first few semesters seems to come straight out of Archie Comics. There is a Archie in every college muddled between Veronica and Betty, the lazy Jughead, the annoying know-it-all Reggie and silly Moose.
While it's all about bunking college, breaking boundaries, making and breaking relationships, in the final semesters these students are suddenly asked to snap out of their perfect comic world set up and asked the question “What next?”
Then starts the scramble for credits, attendance, to complete projects and get the certificates in order and befriending the nemesis in the form of lecturers.
Forgoing their grunge look, these students embrace sobriety in the garb of formal wear to convince the companies that their wild days are over and they are ready for all the responsibilities that life throws at time. But the situation is no longer similar to that of Hrithik Roshan from the film Lakshya, most of these students have figured what they want and how they will achieve and therefore placements mean much more than just getting the best pay package.
“Though the final pay package matters but more importantly the portfolio of the company should match our area of interest,” says Prince Gupta a third year Electrical engineering student.
He says that someday he would like to start something on his own but at this stage he just wants to get as much experience as possible.
“I feel with a good work experience and the brand of the company will open a lot of doors for me in the future,” he says.
While most colleges provide the final year students with career counselling and train them through mock interviews, the short listing of companies and deciding on the offer is a student's prerogative.
Though teachers and parents stresses on good grades in order to get a good job, placement coordinator and a B.Com third year student Hazel Rashmi says as long as the students clear all the papers they are eligible to sit for placements.
“In fact, every company has a specific cut off, if the students clear it they are eligible to sit for the placements,” she says.
The past record of the college and its brand name matters a lot when a company short list a college for placements, says A. Shruti, HR executive of a MNC. “If the company is happy with the performance record of the students hired in the previous placements, they normally go back to the college for the next hiring process,” she explains.
Apart from the aptitude tests, it's the extra curricular activities and their performance at the interview matters when it comes to hiring a fresher.
“I am satisfied when a student clears the 60 percent cut off. It is qualities like eagerness to learn, out of the box ideas, attitude of the student that matters more when it comes to hiring,” says Amrita K. an interviewer. “I have often seen that if a student is ambitious their resume shows a healthy balance between marks and activities,” she says.
G. Madhu Sudhan a Mechanical engineering student adds, “During placements all the students are on the same platform. In fact a lot of the toppers don't get placed while the average performers land up with the best offers.” Sometimes, personal recommendations from professors also help students with the placements though none of it is official.
There are also some students who prefer not to sit for placements and have figured their own career plan. “I have always wanted to get into research and I have decided to do my masters in Robotics in Zurich,” says D. Krishnan Manaswi another engineering student.
It is no longer about marks and the rat race or securing a job but students are pursuing their interests and planning it well which even makes Rancho from 3 Idiots a little outdated.
The IIITs at Basar, Nuzvid and Idupulapaya, launched with much fanfare in 2008 by the late chief minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, as an answer to the country’s IITs, are losing their sheen. Hundreds of students are preferring to move out, having applied for the Eamcet this year to get into good engineering colleges, rather than continuing with their four-year B.Tech course in IIITs.
The Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Techno-logies, which runs these IIITs, is struggling to provide the required facilities to students due to a dearth of funds. The state government provides free education, free hostel and mess facilities for IIIT students as part of the six-year integrated engineering course after Class X, besides a laptop, two pairs of uniforms and shoes. But all these have not been attractive en-ough to hold students back. Those who completed Class XII at the IIITs this year doubt the institutes’ longe-vity and are moving out.
Nearly 800 students out of a total 3,000, who are about to finish Class XII in May 2012, have opted to sit for Eamcet this year. A large number of IIIT students from Vijayawada (71), followed by Guntur (69), Hyderabad (44), Kakinada (43), Anantapur (41), Tirupati (39), Kurnool (36), Eluru, Ongole and Warangal (31) applied for Eamcet 2012. However, RGUKT vice-chancellor Prof. R.V. Raja Kumar expressed confidence that these students will continue with the IIITs. Students also face many problems on campus. With bills not being paid to them, mess contractors are not able to provide them with food and since the construction activities have stopped, there is no accommodation.
NIIT offers IT training programs for students in Universities and Colleges. The company has tied up with reputed Universities across the world, including the Open University in the UK, over a dozen Universities in India, Australia, Malaysia and New Zealand and over 20 Universities in China.
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| Students revise their notes just before the Joint Entrance Examination 2011 organised by IIT. Photo Used Only For Illustration Purpose |
With a fortnight left for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) that determines admissions to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), a sense of anxiety is prevalent among the hundreds of IIT aspirants in the city, who may be the last batch to take the the test in its current pattern.
As per current JEE rules, a student can attempt the examination twice, once when he is in class XII and again, a year later. But with the recent proposal of the Ministry of Human Resource Development to have a common entrance examination for all IITs, National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and Indian Institute of Science, this might change. The IIT council has proposed that a weightage of 40 per cent be given to class XII marks, and has recommended that students be evaluated with questions on aptitude, comprehension and critical thinking and advanced examination, besides testing them on physics, mathematics and chemistry.
With talks of several such changes doing the rounds, students, understandably, have their share of anxieties. A class XII student of Vidya Mandir, who aspires to get into IIT- Madras, is worried about what will happen if he does not get a good rank this year and the new pattern is implemented. “My school marks will not be that great because my entire focus is on JEE. If I have to take the exam again next year, I stand to lose, with inadequate school grades,” he said. “This year, to get into IIT- Madras, I have to get into the first 100 ranks, but getting in is made even more difficult because most students from Andhra Pradesh, especially all the high-scoring ones usually opt for it . I would ideally want to wait and take the exam again, but considering the confusion over the proposed changes, I will take any IIT admission that comes my way,” he said.
Nearly five lakh students are expected to take the exam on April 8, as compared to the 4.86 lakh in 2011, of which nearly 8,583 students are in Tamil Nadu. The largest pool of applications this year has come from Kanpur, followed by Andhra Pradesh from the Madras zone that comprises the four southern states and Pondicherry.
Even as the buzz around a likely change in the JEE pattern is growing by the day, it looks like the proposed common test will not be free of hiccups. .
Some states are worried that the new pattern will exclude students from rural areas. Officials from the Higher Education Department of Tamil Nadu have asked for time to analyse the pattern of the test and decide if it will suit students of the State. Even the IITs in Kanpur and Delhi have disapproved of the way the Ministry has been pushing for the changes. Recently, the All-India IIT Faculty Federation that has teachers from all IITs as members strongly opposed the proposed changes on grounds that the reforms would prevent students with high aptitudes and knowledge from getting in.
Shobana Mohan, a physics teacher at a city school said since there was very little clarity on the rules, aspirants were in the dark as to what should they focus on if they were not able to get a good rank this year. Similarly, others who are starting their preparations now are also unsure. “Will their marks in both class XI and class XII be considered and how difficult will the technical questions get, or should they start focusing on aptitude and comprehension now?” she asked.
Over the years, the JEE pattern has become simpler so that it can be more accessible to students, say trainers, especially with negative marking being removed from sections such as reasoning and matrices as seen last year. But the unpredictability still remains, particularly on how many of the topics come from class XI and class XII.
“I would ask them to focus on this year's test alone. Expect surprises, think logically and don't try to conquer the question paper like you do in the board exam. If the paper is easy, it will become more difficult to qualify,” says K. Ravi, a trainer. “The attempt should be to get into the best 10,000s, because next year, the pattern might change, and the ones wanting to attempt the examination again, might have to prepare for a new pattern all over again,” he added.
After seeing a dip last year, the number of girl students in the engineering stream of EAMCET is likely to increase this year going by the present trend of applications.
Last date extended
So far, 68,674 girl students have applied for the engineering stream while the boys' applications have crossed one lakh. Last year, 98, 718 girls appeared for the test while in 2010 about 1.15 lakh girls took the engineering test. With the last date of submission of applications ending on March 30, officials expect that the number of girl students is likely to cross the last year's figures going by the present trend.
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“The number has been increasing since the last two days as students are free with the Intermediate examinations completed,” said the EAMCET-2012 convenor, N.V. Ramana Rao. The number of aspirants in EAMCET is expected to increase massively this year as the number of candidates taking the Intermediate examinations has also risen. This year, 4,74,484 candidates have registered for Intermediate examinations in the MPC stream, which is an increase by over 50,000 students.
Last year, 4,22,875 candidates appeared for the Intermediate exam of which 2,78,974 candidates took the engineering test. Prof. Ramana Rao says the number of girl students has also seen an upswing in Intermediate MPC stream thus indicating that more girl students are likely to take the engineering test. If the easy availability of seats is a factor forcing girl students to take up engineering, the changing mindset of parents is contributing to it too. The performance of girl students in the engineering course is another positive aspect. This year 1.78 lakh students have applied for Intermediate exams from the BiPC stream as against 1,31,102 last year, an increase of around 46,000.
G.H.B Educational Trust is conducting free Eamcet coaching for Intermediate MPC and BPC students for 50 days from March 20 between 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Reliance Junior College, Tolichowki.
Those interested may contact phone numbers 040-20030622 or 72075 07687.
You have burnt the midnight oil to prepare for this one crucial exam to realise your engineering dreams. What does it take to succeed in the test? Experts share their strategies.
A childhood dream nurtured by ambitious parents for some or an entire year after school completely dedicated to preparing for one test for some others. Ultimately it all boils down to one day — April 8, 2012, when the IIT-JEE is slated for.
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Being the last year, the IIT-JEE continues to be as elusive and no one can really predict about. “There are no patterns that can be traced in JEE. No question is ever repeated,” says R. Gurumurthy, who trains students for the JEE exam. “However, since it is likely that the exam would be scrapped from the next year, there is high probability that there will not be any radical change introduced this year. The pattern is expected to remain the same.”
It is quite common to find students who have worked hard lose their cool in the last few days approaching the exam but students who have cracked the exam say it is important to remain clam. “JEE is about the concentrated effort you have put in over two years. There is not much that can be done in the days running up to the exam. So it is better that students read those areas they are thorough with. This can boost your confidence,” says Chandranshu Nanda, a second-year student of IIT-Madras.
The last few days can be effectively spent by working out question papers of previous years and answering test series in a simulated timed environment. It will also help in better time management during the examination, say trainers.
“When students write the exam it is important to go through the entire question paper once. If you cannot crack a question beyond four minutes, move on. Instead you can spend the remaining time effectively in answering other questions,” says Mayank N.K. Choudhary, a student of Biotechnlogy.
CLASS XII PORTIONS MATTER
Over the last four or five years, it has been noticed that there was an emphasis on the Class XII portions. “Don't ignore the portions in the board exams while preparing for JEE,” says Nishanth Tipathy, centre co-ordincator, Kilpauk branch, FIIT-JEE. “The weightage for Class XII topics such as modern physics, increased from the earlier four per cent to 10 per cent. Similarly, in organic chemistry the NCERT textbook is considered the Bible,” he says.
ANSWERS ON THE WEB
In an attempt to increase transparency of the examination and to make it student-friendly certain measures are being taken. “This year we are giving students two pages in the ORS answer sheet. Instead of pencil, students should use a pen. They can take home the second carbonated copy,” says Arindam, chariman, IIT-JEE 2012. “There were too many RTIs filed for the answer sheets. The answers will be uploaded on the website shortly after the examination, and students can cross-check their answers,” he adds.
All said, it zeroes down to the performance of a student in those six hours. “Even that two-hour break between the two papers is crucial. There should be enough enthusiasm when we go for the second paper, even if paper-1 was tough. Often when we chat with others who might have found the exam easy, we lose our cool and end up faring poorly in the second paper too,” says Chandranshu Nanda.
Mayank agrees. “The whole environment is really tensed and I didn't want it to psyche me out. I listened to music for an hour, had lunch and walked around. After all, there is more to life than JEE.”
Over 12 lakh GATE aspirants took the examination on Sunday. The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is an all-India examination conducted jointly by theIndian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and the seven Indian Institutes of Technology ( IITs) for admission to post graduate programs in engineering, technology, architecture and pharmacy at national level.GATE 2012 - morning session (9am-12 pm) Common GATE 2012 largely followed the pattern of last year's paper, as previously announced in the GATE 2012 prospectus. The paper consisted of 65 questions with a maximum score of 100 marks. The questions were MCQ type with four options. Every wrong answer incurred a negative marking of 1/3.
The question-wise breakup of the paper was - engineering mathematics: 15 marks; general aptitude (verbal ability and numerical ability): 15 marks; core engineering subjects: 70 marks.
However, this year cut-offs are likely to be slightly higher for both the papers (keeping in view the large number of students appearing in GATE 2012).Overall, it was a scoring paper for students with strong fundamentals.
According to CL Gate Aspire CS / IT - Analysis in general, this paper was slightly tougher as compared to GATE 2011. A majority of the questions were from DBMS and data structure and algorithm and computer network whereas very few questions were seen from compiler design. Surprisingly, there were no questions from software engineering. In terms of the difficulty level, questions from TOC and DMGT were the toughest and questions on DBMS and data structure were the easiest.
GATE 2012 saw the weight-age allotted to computer networks increase from 6% to 13%, while the weight-age allotted to computer organisation decreased from 16% to 3% as compared to last year. There was very change in the weight-age of subjects like maths, compiler design and digital.
Mechanical Engineering - Analysis In general, the difficulty level of this paper was similar to that of the last year. GATE 2012 saw the weight-age allotted to manufacturing and production engineering increase from 12 % to 16%, while the weight-age allotted to thermodynamics decreased from 19% to 13%. There was very little change in the weight-age of subjects like maths, general aptitude and applied mechanics and design.
About 21% questions were from manufacturing section whereas very few questions were seen from thermal science which includes thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer. In terms of the difficulty level, questions from mechanics and design were the toughest.
