IIT-K stresses on ?perfect personality?

THE INDIAN Institute of Technology, Kanpur, (IIT-K) is among the first engineering institutes, which has preferred to introduce a long-term planning to meet the future needs of the country and the students. Therefore, in the ?IIT-Vision Document? the planners have laid emphasis on the standardisation of education so as to produce students with ?perfect personality?.

THE INDIAN Institute of Technology, Kanpur, (IIT-K) is among the first engineering institutes, which has preferred to introduce a long-term planning to meet the future needs of the country and the students. Therefore, in the “IIT-Vision Document” the planners have laid emphasis on the standardisation of education so as to produce students with “perfect personality”.

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The planners feel that the institute would witness a sharp rise in the number of students in the coming years. According to them the strength of students has already gone up form 2,000 to 4,000 and their number would further go up to 6,000 by the year 2016. In view of this growth of student community at the institute, planning of facilities, management of hostels, organisation of events, maintenance of students relation were very sensitive and crucial issues, the planners observed.

They suggested that the involvement of faculty in many student-related activities such as cultural, sports and hostels management needed considerable improvement. They said a review of the subsidy provided to students in mess facilities, hostel utilities and hostel maintenance was the need of the hour.

They pointed out that with the rise in number of students, the amount of subsidy also increases and it was necessary to control the expenditure without affecting the comfort of students.

The planners did not prefer high-level of subsidy as, according to them, this contained the dangers of affecting the quality of academic programmes. They stressed the need for strengthening counselling services at the institute for complete development of the personality of each student. The planners suggested career counselling, academic counselling, personal counselling and professional counselling. But the counselling services should be introduced at the department level so that a clear picture could be given to the students about the advantages and the disadvantages of different career options, the planners envisaged.

With regard to fixing the tuition fee the planners suggested that the fee structure of various academic programmes required a careful review. The fee should be commensurate with the quality as well as expenditure incurred in a programme.

The aim of the counselling activity should be to attract the undergraduate students for post-graduate education and research career in IITs.

They also suggested improving sports and the cultural activities for the students in the coming years. The body of planners envisaged construction of four lectures halls each of two hundred capacity so as to schedule the undergraduate classes with an increased intake, a core laboratory building for physics, chemistry and mathematics departments and a digital library.