Private institutes: Need of Indian education system

More than 10 million students in India are getting higher education from private institutions or universities. Private institutions compensate for the failure of the education system. It is high time that it is given the status of an industry..

FOUR YEARS ago, I appeared for the engineering competitive examinations but couldn’t score a rank good enough to get admission in a government institution. My dreams of being an engineer were on the verge of being shattered but a private institution came to my rescue.

It was not just my case but according to the latest survey conducted by Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), there are 17,500 colleges and 230 universities providing higher education to 11million students. But the biggest irony is that out of this large number more than 10 million students are getting higher education from private institutions or universities. The figure itself clearly proves, who is playing a bigger role in imparting higher education.

Delhi University (DU) received 500,000 applications for 40,000 seats, the result-even 90 per cent marks couldn’t confirm a seat. The competition gets tougher when it comes to seeking admission for professional courses. For 6,800 seats in Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) more than 2.4 lakh students appear. For 9,500 seats in National Institutes of Technology (NIT), more than two lakh applications were received.

This fact is for our Human Resource Development (HRD), who claims to have enough money to implement reservation in government institutes. NIT Bhopal has a 600 acre campus but it admits only 60 students for its masters in computer applications (MCA) programme. The institute neither has enough trained faculty nor it has resources to improve the labs and equipments to facilitate more intake. Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) are also not different. They too are suffering from shortage of faculty and we all can imagine what is going to happen with the government planning to come up with more IITs.The disgusting fact is that the government doesn’t have enough money to deal with these problems and we can still hear them claiming that they have enough money to provide infrastructure and other facilities to twice the number of students.

The HRD ministry, instead of being progressive and encouraging more private universities, is more keen to provide reservation and divide the nation on caste basis. It is high time that private sector education is given the status of an industry and it should be realised that they compensate for the failure of the education system.

This demands sincere efforts from the government and the regulatory committees like All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and University Grants Commission (UGC) and proper transparency should be maintained. It is quite common to observe that institutes not having a decent infrastructure get affiliation just because they belong to some politician while others who deserve that affiliation, have to struggle. source: http://india.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=136835

Private institutes: Need of Indian education system

More than 10 million students in India are getting higher education from private institutions or universities. Private institutions compensate for the failure of the education system. It is high time that it is given the status of an industry..

FOUR YEARS ago, I appeared for the engineering competitive examinations but couldn’t score a rank good enough to get admission in a government institution. My dreams of being an engineer were on the verge of being shattered but a private institution came to my rescue.

It was not just my case but according to the latest survey conducted by Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), there are 17,500 colleges and 230 universities providing higher education to 11million students. But the biggest irony is that out of this large number more than 10 million students are getting higher education from private institutions or universities. The figure itself clearly proves, who is playing a bigger role in imparting higher education.

Delhi University (DU) received 500,000 applications for 40,000 seats, the result-even 90 per cent marks couldn’t confirm a seat. The competition gets tougher when it comes to seeking admission for professional courses. For 6,800 seats in Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) more than 2.4 lakh students appear. For 9,500 seats in National Institutes of Technology (NIT), more than two lakh applications were received.

This fact is for our Human Resource Development (HRD), who claims to have enough money to implement reservation in government institutes. NIT Bhopal has a 600 acre campus but it admits only 60 students for its masters in computer applications (MCA) programme. The institute neither has enough trained faculty nor it has resources to improve the labs and equipments to facilitate more intake. Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) are also not different. They too are suffering from shortage of faculty and we all can imagine what is going to happen with the government planning to come up with more IITs.The disgusting fact is that the government doesn’t have enough money to deal with these problems and we can still hear them claiming that they have enough money to provide infrastructure and other facilities to twice the number of students.

The HRD ministry, instead of being progressive and encouraging more private universities, is more keen to provide reservation and divide the nation on caste basis. It is high time that private sector education is given the status of an industry and it should be realised that they compensate for the failure of the education system.

This demands sincere efforts from the government and the regulatory committees like All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and University Grants Commission (UGC) and proper transparency should be maintained. It is quite common to observe that institutes not having a decent infrastructure get affiliation just because they belong to some politician while others who deserve that affiliation, have to struggle. source: http://india.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=136835

Shillong, June 27: The Centre has agreed to set up a National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Shillong provided land is allotted by the government fo

Shillong, June 27: The Centre has agreed to set up a National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Shillong provided land is allotted by the government for the purpose. Meghalaya chief secretary Ranjan Chatterjee, who is camping in Delhi, today said over phone that the Union education secretary had agreed to set up an NIT in Shillong. The Meghalaya capital already has a medical college and an Indian Institute of Management.“The Centre only wanted Meghalaya to provide sufficient land to construct the building and other infrastructure facilities,” Chatterjee said. However, for the time being, Meghalaya and the other states that do not have NITs will be allotted more seats in the ones that do. A meeting was held in Delhi between the ministry of human resource development and the secretaries and commissioners of different states and Union Territories yesterday to discuss the seat allotment at NITs in the country. A state education department official said according to the policy of reservation of seats in technical institutions for states lacking in such facilities, the Centre had agreed to allot mores seats to affected states. The assurance comes in the wake of the new admission policy of filling up 50 per cent of the total seats of NITs for students from outside, on all-India merit basis. “The assurance of the Centre is welcome as this will compensate the loss. But Meghalaya and other states will suffer with the new admission pattern in NITs where there will be reduced seats,” said the official. According to state commissioner of education L. Roy, the state will suffer after the new system is introduced. Source: telegraph india

Shillong, June 27: The Centre has agreed to set up a National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Shillong provided land is allotted by the government fo

Shillong, June 27: The Centre has agreed to set up a National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Shillong provided land is allotted by the government for the purpose. Meghalaya chief secretary Ranjan Chatterjee, who is camping in Delhi, today said over phone that the Union education secretary had agreed to set up an NIT in Shillong. The Meghalaya capital already has a medical college and an Indian Institute of Management.“The Centre only wanted Meghalaya to provide sufficient land to construct the building and other infrastructure facilities,” Chatterjee said. However, for the time being, Meghalaya and the other states that do not have NITs will be allotted more seats in the ones that do. A meeting was held in Delhi between the ministry of human resource development and the secretaries and commissioners of different states and Union Territories yesterday to discuss the seat allotment at NITs in the country. A state education department official said according to the policy of reservation of seats in technical institutions for states lacking in such facilities, the Centre had agreed to allot mores seats to affected states. The assurance comes in the wake of the new admission policy of filling up 50 per cent of the total seats of NITs for students from outside, on all-India merit basis. “The assurance of the Centre is welcome as this will compensate the loss. But Meghalaya and other states will suffer with the new admission pattern in NITs where there will be reduced seats,” said the official. According to state commissioner of education L. Roy, the state will suffer after the new system is introduced. Source: telegraph india

Final decision by Centre after July 13

NEW DELHI, June 25 – Despite protests by States against the new policy of admission in National Institute of Technology (NIT), the Human Resources Development Ministry is likely to wait till July 13 to assess the situation before taking a final decision. There may be a few States, which have apprehensions over not getting seats in various technical institutions at the same level, as they were getting earlier. “The exact position depends on exercise of choices by the candidates and hence, would be clear only by end of first round of counselling by the Central Counselling Board (CCB) on the July 13,” official sources said.Under the circumstances, the June 26 meeting of the Technical Education Secretaries convened by the HRD Ministry may be just a formality. “All efforts will be made to give satisfaction to all States,” Ministry however assured.Conveying the anxiety of loosing out on number of seats, Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi in a letter to Union HRD Minister, Arjun Singh said that the last minute change of policy has caused great uncertainty and resentment among the students. An estimated 250 students from Assam normally gets selected to the technical institutes according to old policy.Now it is feared that the number would go down to 15 seats.Gogoi further pointed out that the Regional Engineering Colleges (RECs) were converted NITs with the clear understanding that the reciprocal system of allotment of seats would continue. However, HRD Ministry sources said there were situations when candidates with higher marks from some States were not getting admissions in NITs whereas some candidates from other State with lower marks were getting admissions. The old system had other demerits like, candidates from a particular category with very low marks from certain States getting admission, while candidates from the same category with much higher marks but from some other State being denied admission. The system was also prone to be misused by the scheming elements, it claimed.Admissions in 20 NITs are made on the basis of AIEEE conducted by Central Board of Secondary Education. Till last year, the seats in an NIT used to be filled by allocating 50 per cent of the seats to the eligible candidates of the States, where an NIT is located and rest 50 per cent of the seats (Outside State quota) were allocated to other States. These outside State quota seats allocated to different States used to be filled by the eligible candidates from these States based on their State specific AIEEE ranks. To streamline the system, the Ministry has issued instructions to the CCB 2008 directing it to fill the outside State quota seats in NITs on all India merit basis. Source: assam tribune

Final decision by Centre after July 13

NEW DELHI, June 25 – Despite protests by States against the new policy of admission in National Institute of Technology (NIT), the Human Resources Development Ministry is likely to wait till July 13 to assess the situation before taking a final decision. There may be a few States, which have apprehensions over not getting seats in various technical institutions at the same level, as they were getting earlier. “The exact position depends on exercise of choices by the candidates and hence, would be clear only by end of first round of counselling by the Central Counselling Board (CCB) on the July 13,” official sources said.Under the circumstances, the June 26 meeting of the Technical Education Secretaries convened by the HRD Ministry may be just a formality. “All efforts will be made to give satisfaction to all States,” Ministry however assured.Conveying the anxiety of loosing out on number of seats, Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi in a letter to Union HRD Minister, Arjun Singh said that the last minute change of policy has caused great uncertainty and resentment among the students. An estimated 250 students from Assam normally gets selected to the technical institutes according to old policy.Now it is feared that the number would go down to 15 seats.Gogoi further pointed out that the Regional Engineering Colleges (RECs) were converted NITs with the clear understanding that the reciprocal system of allotment of seats would continue. However, HRD Ministry sources said there were situations when candidates with higher marks from some States were not getting admissions in NITs whereas some candidates from other State with lower marks were getting admissions. The old system had other demerits like, candidates from a particular category with very low marks from certain States getting admission, while candidates from the same category with much higher marks but from some other State being denied admission. The system was also prone to be misused by the scheming elements, it claimed.Admissions in 20 NITs are made on the basis of AIEEE conducted by Central Board of Secondary Education. Till last year, the seats in an NIT used to be filled by allocating 50 per cent of the seats to the eligible candidates of the States, where an NIT is located and rest 50 per cent of the seats (Outside State quota) were allocated to other States. These outside State quota seats allocated to different States used to be filled by the eligible candidates from these States based on their State specific AIEEE ranks. To streamline the system, the Ministry has issued instructions to the CCB 2008 directing it to fill the outside State quota seats in NITs on all India merit basis. Source: assam tribune

Tripura loses quota in NITs outside state

Agartala, June 25: The Manik Sarkar government is seething over the HRD ministry’s decision to do away with quota for Tripura students outside the state in various engineering colleges, including NITs.
Therefore, the entire quota of 160 seats for Tripura students is set to go.
But as a consolation prize, the quota for students of the home state in NIT Agartala will still be 50 per cent of the total number of seats, that is, 456. Earlier, the total number of seats was 420 among which 210 were reserved for students from Tripura.
“The matter will be discussed threadbare at a high-level meeting in Delhi tomorrow and the commissioner of the higher education department will attend the meeting and communicate our stand,” the chief minister told the state Assembly today.
Sarkar said 50 per cent quota for Tripura students in the newly launched NIT Agartala cannot resolve the problems of technical education in the state.
The state government would never accept the unilateral slashing of quota for Tripura students, the chief minister said.
The HRD ministry had earlier clarified that national reservation formula would be implemented in NIT Agartala but the state government had opposed the decision.
“There is a clear ruling by the Supreme Court that the reservation formula followed at the national level cannot be enforced in institutions located within areas under the Sixth Schedule and our NIT is under areas of this schedule. Despite our repeated appeals, the HRD ministry has not yet informed us of its decision,” Sarkar said.
On reservation of seats for OBCs, he said in the current academic year, nine per cent reservation would be granted for the OBCs and it would progressively increase based on the growth in infrastructure.
Sarkar said the location of NIT Agartala under the Sixth Schedule area has created problem in the matter of reservation because the Supreme Court has not specified the reservation formula to be followed in NITs.
“We are awaiting a decision from the HRD ministry,” Sarkar said.
The Opposition INPT has launched an agitation demanding admission of more tribal students. Source: telegraph india

Tripura loses quota in NITs outside state

Agartala, June 25: The Manik Sarkar government is seething over the HRD ministry’s decision to do away with quota for Tripura students outside the state in various engineering colleges, including NITs.
Therefore, the entire quota of 160 seats for Tripura students is set to go.
But as a consolation prize, the quota for students of the home state in NIT Agartala will still be 50 per cent of the total number of seats, that is, 456. Earlier, the total number of seats was 420 among which 210 were reserved for students from Tripura.
“The matter will be discussed threadbare at a high-level meeting in Delhi tomorrow and the commissioner of the higher education department will attend the meeting and communicate our stand,” the chief minister told the state Assembly today.
Sarkar said 50 per cent quota for Tripura students in the newly launched NIT Agartala cannot resolve the problems of technical education in the state.
The state government would never accept the unilateral slashing of quota for Tripura students, the chief minister said.
The HRD ministry had earlier clarified that national reservation formula would be implemented in NIT Agartala but the state government had opposed the decision.
“There is a clear ruling by the Supreme Court that the reservation formula followed at the national level cannot be enforced in institutions located within areas under the Sixth Schedule and our NIT is under areas of this schedule. Despite our repeated appeals, the HRD ministry has not yet informed us of its decision,” Sarkar said.
On reservation of seats for OBCs, he said in the current academic year, nine per cent reservation would be granted for the OBCs and it would progressively increase based on the growth in infrastructure.
Sarkar said the location of NIT Agartala under the Sixth Schedule area has created problem in the matter of reservation because the Supreme Court has not specified the reservation formula to be followed in NITs.
“We are awaiting a decision from the HRD ministry,” Sarkar said.
The Opposition INPT has launched an agitation demanding admission of more tribal students. Source: telegraph india