MTech students in Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will now have to pay more with the IIT Council on Friday approving a fee increase to bring it to the level of BTech courses.
According to Live Mint, the fee of M.Tech courses to go up to 10 times to Rs 2 lakh per year. “Currently, IITs charge between Rs 20,000 and R 50,000 as annual M.Tech tuition fee. The cost of IIT education per year is around Rs 7 lakh. Rs 2 lakh will also be hugely subsidised," said an IIT official told the Live Mint.
The Council chaired by Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal also approved the 'tenure track pathway' to decide whether a new faculty member is going 'up' or 'out' after a fifth year review of his or her performance.
The agenda item 'Reform of the MTech Programs' stated that "Proactively increase the MTech fee and bring it at least to the level of BTech fee (Rs 2 lakh per year) over the next three years. Simultaneously the needy students should be supported directly by the government through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) or arranging educational loans." The proposal has been made based on the recommendations of a three-member committee on reforms on MTech programme in IITs.
Besides, the apex decision making body of the 23 IITs plans to stop the monthly stipend of Rs 12,400 paid to all M.Tech students who secured admission through the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) exam. In 2019, around 9,280 out of the 12,000 first-year M.Tech students were admitted on the basis of their GATE results, said a second official, also requesting anonymity.
The IIT Council’s decision follows recommendations by an internal committee. “The council approved, in principle, recommendations of the three-member committee constituted for suggesting reforms in the M.Tech system. The committee has recommended uniform fee structure for the M.Tech programme in all IITs, and for charging the same fee for M.Tech, as in B.Tech programmes." the HRD ministry said, reported the Live Mint.
The committee made five key recommendations which are,
1: To increase the M.Tech fees to Rs200,000 per year and give reprieve to needy students;
2: The Rs12,400 monthly stipend should be discontinued;
3: 50% of the fee hike could be disbursed among competent M.Tech students who would want to take up the role of teaching assistants;
4: The top one percentile students could be offered a five-year fellowship if they pursue Ph.D from a top Indian institution; and
5: A mechanism to encourage IITs to go for sponsored students from the industry to pursue M.Tech courses.
