They have been asked to wait till Sibal returns from the U.S.
As the government remains silent on the controversy over the common entrance test for admission to undergraduate engineering courses, the All-India IIT Faculty Federation and the IIT-Delhi Alumni Association hope for an early response from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to their request for an appointment.
“We are in touch with the Prime Minister's Office to seek an audience with him in order to apprise him of the situation that has arisen out of the Human Resource Development Ministry's announcement on May 28 of the new joint entrance examination,” Somnath Bharti, president of the Alumni Association, told The Hindu.
The association had got off a request to the PMO on June 6 but is yet to get an appointment. It has been asked to wait, presumably, until Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal returns home from the U.S. on June 14.
He has a family engagement for a couple of days thereafter, before he resumes work.
Meanwhile, the faculty members of various IITs are busy holding informal consultations among themselves on the future course of action. The Senate of the IIT-Kanpur has already decided to hold a separate test in 2013 and set up a committee to work out the modalities. However, it has offered to coordinate with the other IITs in the conduct of the examination.
The Alumni Association has announced that it would challenge the Centre's decision through a public interest litigation petition, to be filed later this week.
Director criticised
The IIT-Kharagpur's faculty has also come out against the Director for supporting the common entrance test, pointing out that the Senate had never agreed to the new format.
There is also talk that the Senates of the IIT-Delhi and the IIT-Bombay could also announce a separate admission process, but a final decision is expected only by month-end.
Shiv Sahay Singh reports from Kolkata
Faculty members of the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur have decided to seek West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's intervention to put on hold the proposal of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development for a common entrance test for undergraduate engineering courses across the country.
“We will bring it to the notice of the Chief Minister how the common entrance examination will undermine merit and dilute the academic standards of the IITs. The teachers will urge Ms. Banerjee to communicate her views to the Union Ministry in this regard,” said a senior faculty member of the IIT.
The proposed common entrance test has created divisions between the administration and faculty members of IIT-Kharagpur. While the Institute's Director Prof. Damodar Acharya has welcomed the proposal, representatives of the IIT-Kharagpur Teachers' Association have opposed it.
“The faculty members of the Institute will do everything possible through democratic means to oppose the common entrance test,” said a faculty member.
Referring to the protests in the past when the IIT teachers went on a hunger strike over implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission, he said that the teachers' association is contemplating similar protest on the issue.
“The faculty members never agreed that the Institute should admit students on the basis of a common entrance test from 2013,” he said, adding that the views of a majority of teachers had not been incorporated into the resolution of the IIT Senate.
“IIT-Kharagpur is willing to expand the ambit of IIT-JEE to other institutions,” said the resolution taken by a special Senate meeting on May 2.
The main problem is normalisation of marks for boards. In such a tough competition some deserving students may loose out........even if they do excellent in Advance test....they may not get rank because of boards normalisation process........Mr Sibal leave your shekhchilli like views......accept the reality........this is a country of +120 crores people.......first achieve a single board pattern with same syllabus..then move further..A building is made from foundation, not from roof.........
It's the right ime Govt. privatise the IIT'S. The top officals in IIT nad most of the faculty are Brahmins. They will never allow any reforms because they want to make sure their community rules IIT'S. It's absurd that Govt. funds tertiary education when there are many dalits can't even get primary education.I want to know how many of IIT is serving the rural mass and how many are saving the Western govt. Iam sure that vast majority of IIT alumni is in foreign country. Why should Indian govt. spend on these people who serves the foreign govt.that money could be well spent on Indian Dalits.But noone will listen in our country because even the ruling elite are mostly corrupt brahmins in our modern India especially at the central govt. level. if IIT fund their own finance they can have their own policy.
Strongly support the IIT KGP faculty. Damodar acharya was a political appointment and he must be removed immediately. There was no reason to tinker with the JEE.If the ministry indeed wanted to improve the system and educate the poor, they must put emphasis on improving primary education, not destroy systems which are well-respected globally and proven to be successful. Coaching institutes will still make money and lots more in the new system as students will flock there to do well in the proposed new exam. There is certainly no benign reason why Sibal wants to change the JEE. He is just trying to make Indian kids as intellectually dumb as foreign kids are. How can anyone give credibility to a person who says there is zero loss due to 2G scam. He is a politician(a dirt politician at that) and he must have no say in deciding anything for elite institutions such as the IIT.
The problem here is that five lakh (or more?) students are competing for only 10000
seats.
Solution: Open MORE IITs, NITs, MITs, etc. so that every student finds a seat
somewhere.
After this, the issue of the test format can be decided. The REAL problem must be
fixed first.
It is a great insult to IIT Kharagpur Teachers' Association,not to respect their common decision in the senate and association. No single member of IIT will agree with the interference of Kapil Sibal in the matter of JEE. Why not alumni of IIT's are exposing the MHRD.Lastly,I wonder how did MHRD suppress the investigation on alleged irregularities perpetrated by present director Mr.Damodar Achariya.The Hindu must submit the report for the IITans and their parents.
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