E-Paper
NIT directors recommend scrapping direct admission scheme for offshore students
The issue of hiking tuition fees for students in the Children of Indian Workers in Gulf category was also raised at the meeting chaired by Union minister Prakash Javadekar.
Students from abroad might find it harder to gain admission to National Institutes of Technology (NITs), with a number of institute directors expressing their disapproval for the Direct Admission of Students Abroad (DASA) scheme.
DASA is meant to help non-resident Indians, foreign nationals and persons of Indian origin gain admission to institutes across the country. While Indian students have to pass JEE Main to enter NITs, students from abroad are admitted on the basis of their Scholastic Aptitude Test scores.
The issue was raised by NIT directors in a recent meet chaired by human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar. “They said getting admission through DASA is far easier than JEE Main. Hence, students who are admitted through that route are academically weak, and find it difficult to cope with the academic pressure at NITs,” the minutes of the meeting stated.
A working group of NIT directors has been asked to submit a report in this regard.
The issue of hiking tuition fees for students in the Children of Indian Workers in Gulf (CIWG) category was also raised at the meeting. NIT directors observed that many Indians working in such countries may not have the resources to pay the prescribed fee of $8,000 (Rs 5.14 lakh) per year under DASA.
“It was decided that students with parental income below a certain level may be allowed to pay the tuition fee of Rs 1.25 lakh on a par with Indian students. Students who don’t fulfill this criterion will be charged the normal tuition fee of $8,000,” said a senior official.
The ministry will decide on the level of income required for CIWG students to avail of this benefit.
Till last year, students seeking admission to NITs under the CIWG category had to pay around $300 (around Rs 19,300) as non-refundable registration fee and $700 (Rs 45,000) in tuition costs for each semester. However, a fresh circular uploaded by the government has hiked the tuition fee to $4,000 (Rs 2.57 lakh) for each semester.
Many parents from Gulf countries have protested against this, stating that they can’t afford such a steep hike.
