IIT coaching is worth Rs 10,000 crores, says survey...

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Coaching for admission to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and other engineering colleges has acquired the status of a mega industry in India. According to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham), the size of the industry is Rs 10,000 crore.

Assocham’s conclusion is based on the assumption that six lakh students attend these classes every year and the average cost for each student is Rs 1.7 lakh, a spokesman for the industry body told TOI. According to Assocham, the staggering sum of Rs 10,000 crore being netted every year by private academies that coach students for admission tests can fund 30 to 40 new IITs.

Calling for deregulation of higher education, Assocham president Sajjan Jindal said the beneficiaries of the current system were those running big educational institutions and coaching centres. “The amount of money which goes to these institutions is enough to open 30 to 40 IITs with lots of seats that can ensure admission to even average candidates,’’ he told IANS.

Those familiar with the coaching industry pointed out that both figures— the number of students going to coaching classes and the average cost per student—seemed exaggerated. Stating that the average cost per student cited by Assocham was too high, they pointed out that the cost in smaller cities which were home to many successful coaching institutes was much lower. They also said the number of students attending coaching classes could be much lower than six lakh.

TOI had recently done a survey of the coaching classes at Kota, the hub of the IITJEE coaching industry, and arrived at a ballpark figure of Rs 550 crore for the size of the industry there. At least 50% of the students who appear in the entrance tests for admissions to IITs and other engineering colleges enrol with coaching centres to beat the cutthroat competition, Assocham said.

It also said that 80,000-90,000 students went abroad for higher studies, leading to a high forex outflow. “If quality institutions are provided, many will stay back and contribute to the nation,’’ it said, adding that that more institutions of excellence should come up. It also suggested that private players and big industrial groups should be encouraged in higher education.

From Small Towns To Boom Towns

KOTA: Kota boasts of 60 to 75 coaching institutes with a combined annual turnover of about Rs 500 crore

KANPUR: Kakadeo, earlier know as Vikrampura, has 25,000 students from five villages. Tutoring for JEE, the main industry here, has an annual turnover of Rs 60 crore.

India - UK round table...

Q& A

‘We aim to link 300 Indian schools with UK schools’

The India-UK round table established in April 2000 is probably one of the more productive track II efforts between the UK and India. Sandra Dawson, deputy vicechancellor of Cambridge University and one of the members of the round table, speaks to Indrani Bagchi:

How has the India-UK round table evolved?
The discussions remain outside the normal bilateral talks. The round table includes people from academics, media, business and various other walks of life. Our discussions focus on education, cultural exchanges, health issues, the context of world politics, climate change, etc. The discussions are always free-flowing though our attempt is to make recommendations for the two governments to pursue, though they are strictly not under any obligation to do so.

What have been your recent recommendations?
The UKIERI (UK-India Education Research Initiative) was born out of our recommendations. It’s now an established initiative and we’re very pleased at the direction it is taking. The main aspects of the initiative involve higher education and research, schools and professional and technical skills. This is what we had recommended — a partnership in skill development, including training teachers and widening the reach of English language learning. By 2011, the initiative aims to link 300 Indian schools (government funded and private) with 300 UK schools.The round table has also been pushing the idea of mutual recognition of qualifications.

In the field of education, we are also emphasising innovation and the role universities can play in fostering innovation. Cambridge University has a strong tradition in this field and there are similar initiatives both in Bangalore and Hyderabad. We have established the Cambridge-India partnership where we are looking to working together on research in biological sciences and nanotechnology, where we’ve tied up with the National Centre for Biological Sciences and IIT Mumbai respectively.

What other sectors do you focus on?
Well, health and climate change are becoming big concerns. No matter how large your GDP is,there’s never any money for the health sector — in any country. We’re trying to increase our attention to public health issues, because here we find a large degree of commonality between the UK and India,even though we have different histories.

Demography too is a growing area of focus. India is a remarkably young country while the UK is an ageing one. We are tackling issues of dealing with longevity, caring for the old and we find that we can have a useful partnership with India in this regard.

Indian students complain that cost of education is higher in the UK as compared to the US.
Yes, we’re trying to turn that around. The first batch of Manmohan Singh scholars will be headed to the UK this year and we’re increasing the number of scholarships to Indian students.

3,500 line up outside Andheri colleges planning to shut down...

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: The Laxmi Education Trust may not be interested in running two of their junior colleges—MVLU and Chinai College—in Andheri, but almost 3,500 students are interested in seeking admissions here.

The college refused to print admission forms this year. As a result, around 3,500 students who approached the college for admission forms were turned away. The MVLU and Chinai College Bachao Samiti, which consists of teachers, students and activists, has now collected letters from all the 3,500 students who were turned away by the management. These letters have been submitted to the deputy director’s office, said member of the Samiti R S Pande in a press conference on Tuesday.

“The chief minister has ordered the deputy director’s office to register an FIR against the trustee of Laxmi Education Society for not printing admission forms and turning away students,’’ Pande said. Based on the orders of the chief minister, the deputy director has appointed a twomember committee to look into the matter.

On Monday, the Bombay high court set aside the order passed by the school tribunal that had allowed the colleges’ management to shut down the institutions. Over the last few years, this trust has been downsizing its staff and declaring its teachers as surplus. It did this after cutting student intake year-on-year. Sources have said that the trust is planning to build a mall on the land which the colleges currently occupy.

While the school tribunal had earlier declared that the management was allowed to close down the college, Monday’s order set aside this decision. The question of closure will now be decided by the state government in four weeks. The committee set up by the deputy director’s office will take a final decision on this issue.

Energy credit: Targets to be revised

Nitin Sethi | TNN

New Delhi: In its National Action Plan on Climate Change, the Centre has, among other things, decided to set up different energy efficiency targets for different sectors. It would be impractical to put one benchmark standard for all the units to achieve over a fixed period.

Say, the best sponge iron plant consumes only 5,000 litres of oil equivalent to produce one tonne of sponge iron but the worst uses 15,000 litres to produce the same one tonne. If the government was to put a fixed benchmark demanding that in two years’ time all sponge iron plants should be operating at 3,000 litres of oil equivalent per tonne or shut shop, the worst performers would be easily wiped off causing upheavals not only in the manufacturing sector but also retard economic growth as well as cause labour problems.

The government could instead resort to separate targets for different levels of players in each sector, suggest knowledgeable observers. So the most inefficient end of the spectrum would have a level of efficiency to achieve relative to their existing consumption levels and the highest end of the spectrum—the best in the business—would have a target to achieve relative to their existing consumption levels. These targets could be successfully revised upwards over fixed number of years. Those who achieve their targets and surpass these would be allowed to then trade in them with those who have not been able to meet their targets in an open market. Or, they could set off these extra savings over the next round of efficiency targets that the government notifies from time to time.

In other words, the heavy fuel consuming industries could start a trade in energy savings certificates. This would allow the overall target of sector wide efficiency to be achieved while ensuring that the achievement is made at the least cost to the industry and the economy because all improvements in efficiency are at the end of day driven by investments that the businesses can make. This is exactly the logic followed in the international arena in running the carbon credit trade. Rich countries have targets to cut their carbon dioxide emission. But for some it can be very expensive to achieve these targets in their own backyard. So they instead come to developing countries to buy credits generated by industries in countries like India that have achieved some carbon emission reduction.

But keeping with India’s international stance, the trade will be restricted only to a domestic market and not be linked to any international market in energy saving certificates or anything similar.

Thrust on solar energy in climate action plan

PM Says India Will Continue To Demand Emission Cuts From Rich Nations

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: PM Manmohan Singh on Monday released the much-awaited National Action Plan on Climate Change which aims to boost solar power generation in the country besides launching seven other programmes in mission mode towards greenhouse gas reduction and adaptation to inevitable climate change.

TOI had earlier reported about the eight missions which the first draft of the plan had laid out. The essence of these remains intact in the final document. But the most interesting addition to the draft is a clear signal that India will not budge from its position in the international arena that these voluntary steps are being taken at a domestic level. India will continue to fight for an “equitable” global compact that demands greater and mandatory emission cuts from the rich countries.

The release of the plan had earlier got stalled with the PM’s council on climate change debating how much of the country’s international stance should be incorporated in the document. Some had suggested that the plan should be looked upon as a purely domestic document while others were keen to ensure that the domestic plan be written in the context of the global negotiations that seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The latter group seems to have got its point across more emphatically in the final version. “The plan could have been more aggressive in laying out a roadmap for the entire world, demanding heavy and immediate cuts by the developed countries. At the moment, this remains its weakness,” said Sunita Narain, a member of the PM’s climate change council.

While developed countries have emission cut targets under the existing UN regime, they want India and other developing nations to also agree to cuts. The US has even suggested that India’s domestic action plan become the base for its international commitments.

But the domestic plan makes it clear that India is only taking these steps as part of a scheme that “promotes development objectives while also yielding co-benefits of addressing climate change effectively”. Out of the eight missions, the emphasis on solar energy is bound to generate the most excitement as the solar power sector has been lagging behind even as the wind power segment of the renewable power portfolio got a boost. The plan also suggests making it mandatory for power grids to purchase renewable energy from producers and sets up progressive targets to do so over the coming years.

While the move towards solar and solar derivatives is bound to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels, the plan also puts as much emphasis on demand side management — reducing consumption levels in both industry and housing sectors. The government envisages saving 10,000 mw by 2012 through energy efficiency measures. It has also laid out a blueprint for marketbased tools to be used to achieve these goals while giving fiscal incentives to move industry, manufacturers and consumers towards a low-carbon path.

Appliance manufacturers rated as more energy efficient would get tax benefits just as industries would be aided to move to better technologies.

The auto sector would be expected to not only fall in line with fuel-efficiency regulations but also be required to start recycling to reduce waste and save on manufacturing of carbon-heavy components.

GREEN STEPS Key elements of the National Action Plan on Climate Change
Solar energy boost—1,000 mw power by 12th plan end Savings of 10,000 mw by 2012 through energy efficiency Industries like steel, power and textiles to trade in energy efficiency targets Minimum target of 5% renewable energy for power grids to procure on competitive basis Nuclear power part of climate mitigation package Critical data to be digitised, sharing and access made easier Recycling from automobiles at the end of their life 5,000 mw of coal thermal plants to be retired by 11th plan. Extra 10,000 mw retired or overhauled by 12th plan

Weak Spots
Adaptation of agriculture to climate change Water management Inter ministerial coordination

Electrical engg stages a comeback...

Computer science has for years had no rival at any engineering college. This year, however, the stream seems to have lost some of its lustre. Of the top 100 JEE rankers, about 15% have opted for electrical engineering when they could have got a computer science seat.

Until the late 1960s, before all the IITs started offering computer science, most toppers would opt for electrical engineering. The IT revolution in the late eighties saw the top layer of candidates blindly opting for computer science.

But of late, some toppers have started choosing electrical engineering. IIT-Kanpur director Sanjay Dhande said he had been observing this change in preferences in the last two or three years. “The perception is that computer science as a branch is limited. An electrical engineering graduate can opt for computer science at the post-graduate level, but the reverse is not possible,’’ said Dhande. TNN

Electrical engineering is hit at new IITs too
Mumbai: Last year, computer science in IIT-B opened at rank 1 and closed at rank 47. All the 44 seats for the general category students were filled by the JEE toppers who joined the Powai campus. Of the 50 top-100 JEE rankers who got into IIT-Bombay, 44 took up computer science and engineering.

But this year, of the 54 top-100 students, 10 have ditched computer science and engineering and given electrical engineering as their first preference. IITMadras director M S Ananth told TOI, “Telecommunication is on the top, at least neck and neck with computer science. Electrical engineering is as much a rage as computer science, at least in the IITs. After that we have most students opting for mechanical engineering.’’

In 2003, all eyes were on All India JEE rank 2 Yashodhan Kanoria—who had dumped computer science for electrical engineering. Sure, as IIT-B director Ashok Misra said, toppers do, “once in a while’’ take up electrical engineering. But the numbers over the years, sources say, have been rising.

In fact, as admissions opened at the new IIT-Hyderabad, at rank 600, the toppers chose electrical engineering. Similarly, at IITGandhinagar, too the story repeats itself. The six new IITs offer popular courses like computer science and engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. tnn hemali.chhapia@timesgroup.com

Debarata Tom Sarkar Cruise...

Howrah man on a mission wheels his way into city

Priyanko Sarkar | TNN

Mumbai: It is easy to get fooled by 43-year-old Debabrata Sarkar’s slight frame. But this third degree black belt karate expert is a man on a mission. His aim is to rehabilitate prisoners, and identify and help schoolchildren with behavioural problems.

He has travelled on his bike from Kolkata across Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and plans to end his journey in Gandhinagar and then return to West Bengal, notching up over a thousand kilometres in the process.

Sarkar says he drew inspiration from his late father, a police inspector who helped many prisoners. “But some incidents in my childhood also changed my life,’’ he says. The Howrah resident had once gone to watch a Hindi movie starring Amitabh Bachchan and received a sound thrashing from his brother, forcing him to run away to Mumbai. “I was a naughty 10-year old. I came to Grant Road and worked as a domestic help for a fortnight before calling off the whole thing and returning home,” recalls Sarkar.

But that adventure paved way for many more such trips in his life. “On numerous occasions, I was put behind bars where I realised how easy it is for criminals to get back to crime because of lack of rehabilitation measures,” he says.

It was then that he founded an NGO called Salkia Safar to help criminals. He now plans to go to school along with psychiatrists and identify “problemchildren’’. He says he has not seen Minority Report, but his ideas are close to what Tom Cruise and his team set out to do: eliminate crime before it actually happens.

“But it is not an easy task convincing ministers, jail authorities and even the criminals. Nobody trusts us initially. Nobody has given us funds too,” he rues, half-smiling at the irony of it all before adding, “The system is not foolproof. I can’t promise that crime will come down to zero but we have to find out why students of international schools are shooting each other, isn’t it?”

LOOKING AHEAD: Debabrata Sarkar wants to rehabilitate prisoners and identify and help children with behavioural problems