The IIT Council that decided to increase the tuition fee for undergraduate students also decided that the peer review of each institute would be carried out every five years. The review committee would consist of five eminent academics from academia and industry. The committee members would be selected by the Board of Governors of respective Institutes from a panel of 10 names. For the new IITs, a similar exercise would be based on well-established review systems in world-class institutions. Besides a periodic review of the institution, each IIT will similarly undertake an in-house, department-wise review before any external peer review is carried out.
With a view to increasing the number of Ph.Ds from 3,000 at present to 10,000 by 2020, the Council of IITs also decided to relax the conditions for enrolment into Ph.D Programme in the IITs. The admission would be given without GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) score to students with CGPA (cumulative grade point average) of more than 7.0 at the end of the 3rd year but GATE score would be required for scholarship.
However, students from Centrally Funded Technical Institutions with CGPA of less than 7.0 would be eligible for Ph.D programmes and fellowships without GATE scores.
The Council also approved the Trainee teacher Award National Institute of technology/IIT Joint Scheme with an aim to enhance the teaching quality and to address the faculty shortage. The scheme is open to all graduating candidates who are in the top 15 per cent in the Centrally Funded Technical Institutes. All other candidates who are in the top 15 per cent from other AICTE/UGC approved institutions and universities and having a valid GATE score would also be eligible.
HRD Minister Pallam Raju said they would be engaged as trainee teachers at NITs. While initially they would assist in teaching, they would simultaneously go through the part-time M.Tech and Ph.D programmes of the IITs to acquire higher academic qualification, which is a prerequisite for faculty at NITs.
