IITs to offer online engg degree courses

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) may soon offer online degree courses in engineering through virtual classrooms, with the council of the premier technical institutes giving its nod to the proposal at a meeting on Friday.

In another major move, the IITs have also agreed to the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry’s proposal to allow under-performing students to make “an honourable exit” from their four-year B.Tech programme.

“The IITs are competent to offer such courses. Online courses will be conducted through virtual classroom for students both in India and abroad. Virtual laboratories will be there for practicals. They will not be distance education programmes at all,” official sources told DH.

The senates of the IITs will take a final decision on the implementation of the proposal, they added.

The ‘honourable exit’ decision will come as a major relief for students. Those who are unable to secure the required credits for promotion to the next semester will be given an option to exit with a degree after the second semester, rather than being forced out of the programme.

“It has been left on the senates of each of the IITs to decide whether the nomenclature of such students’ degree should be a B.Sc in Engineering or something else,” official sources said.

According to sources, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, who chaired the meeting, was categorical in his view that no student from the IITs should be expelled on the grounds of under-performance. For students lagging behind in their studies, the IIT Council approved a proposal for extension of the programme duration by one-year along with the continuation of the scholarship so that they complete their B.Tech programme.

Foreign focus

In order to attract more foreign students to improve their international ranking, the IITs decided to exempt the overseas citizens of India (OCIs) from taking the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) main examination. “Students with OCI cards, who have foreign passports and studied abroad, will be eligible for the exemption. They will directly take the JEE-Advanced for admission in IITs,” an HRD ministry official said.