Studying in the esteemed Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) is a dream that thousands of Indian students see every year. After clearing the highly competitive JEE and GATE examinations, a handful of students get to study in the IITs.
IIT is considered world-class education platform and offers its students multiple opportunities to interact and learn from prestigious visiting faculties from foreign universities like Stanford, Harvard, and MIT. From getting high paychecks to acquiring funding for research projects, IIT helps its students on all fronts.
So, it does not come as a surprise when lakhs of students appear for entrance examinations each year to be a part of such a premier institute. However, not many make it because of the limited number of seats and tough competition.
IIT Gandhinagar (IITGN), therefore, has opened its gates to admit students, who failed to clear their Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). IITGN is offering non-degree programmes to students hailing from the Engineering, Science, and Humanities stream. Under this program, an undergraduate or postgraduate student enrolled in a part-time or full-time course will be able to spend an entire semester on the IITGN campus learning from the professors.
“The main objective is to give a chance to the deserving students to be introduced to the IIT systems, which is otherwise not possible for a large number of students owing to the cut-throat competition in entrance examinations,” said Sudhir K Jain, the director of IITGN.
Jain went on to compare the non-degree course with current online programmes saying that unlike the latter, the students and the teachers will have face-to-face direct interactions in the courses provided by the IITGN.
IITGN started this non-degree courses ten years ago to make IITs more inclusive. Jain told DNA that the main inspiration behind starting these programmes was to shed the image of IIT being exclusive to only the top-ranked students.
“We want IIT to be inclusive and transparent and hence we started this initiative. But our reach was quite low and even now, not many know about the programme,” added Jain.
However, even after ten years, not many are aware of the existence of this programme, which is why the authorities have decided to take up an aggressive approach to spread awareness about this course.
What Does the Programme Offer?
If any student is joining the IITGN course in the middle of their regular studies, the institute will give them a guaranteed credit so that their regular course is not hampered. Apart from this, IITGN also offers a part-time course for students, who have completed their Masters and Bachelors degree from other colleges.
Students enrolled in this non-degree programme will be allowed to use all academic facilities that are given to full-time students including the Internet, computer centres, library, meals, sports centres, and more.
Students who are interested in joining the part-time or full-time IITGN non-degree course must have a good academic record and will have to pay the tuition fee for the entire semester. While attending the IITGN courses, they will also have to abide by some guidelines and rules.
At the end of the course, the students will be presented with an opportunity to give suggestions and feedback to improve the course quality. On completion of this course, the students will be presented with a certificate from IITGN, after which they can return back to their regular college courses.
Click here to know more about the course
Photo by Juan Ramos on Unsplash
