Last year, fifteen students from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay chose the early exit option, a new offering at the time, The Indian Express reported on Wednesday, quoting Professor Avinash Mahajan, the Dean of Academic Programmes at the Institute.
This option allows students who are unable to complete the full four-year B.Tech course and wish to leave, to do so with a B.Sc. in Engineering degree from the IIT. The Institute believes that the option provides students with a respectable exit instead of being labelled as drop-outs since the students have completed three years of coursework.
The decision was taken after a meeting of the IIT Council. “Some years ago, it was discussed to provide weak performing students with the option to take an honourable exit,” the publication quoted Professor Mahajan as saying.
He explained, “Students have to complete roughly 60 per cent of the total credits allotted to the course they are pursuing to be able to go out with a B.Sc. Engineering degree.”
If a student fulfils the necessary credit requirements for a specific course, the new degree they receive will also mention their specialization.
Professor S Sudarshan, Deputy Director at the Institute, said that these students will be eligible to sit in the IIT-Bombay placements.
The pair spoke following a press conference about the three-year progress of the National Education Policy 2020. During the conference, representatives from IIT Bombay, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan – Mumbai Region, and Ketan Patel, the Joint Director of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, discussed the actions they have taken in alignment with NEP 2020.
Although NEP 2020 suggests having various entry and exit points in higher education courses, IIT Bombay has chosen to provide just one early-exit option.
“These were the students (the 15 students) who had trouble passing courses, or some others who might have an idea that they want to do something else. But at IIT Bombay, we do not foresee every-year exit. At this point, three years is the minimum requirement. We would like students to pursue and complete the course,” Professor Mahajan was quoted as saying, adding that multiple entries was not an option the Institute was considering now.