NEW DELHI: An attempt by the director of IIT Kanpur to raise the issue of a fee hike did not meet the approval of HRD minister Kapil Sibal during a retreat meeting with IIT directors in Manesar on Thursday.

Sibal, sources said, told the directors to wait till the ministry puts in place a finance corporation that would help students get loans. The day-long informal meeting resulted in the setting up of a committee to suggest reforms in the IIT entrance examination. The committee will be headed by IIT Kharagpur director Damodar Acharya. It will submit its report in three months.

The committee will look into the issue of factoring in Class XII examination result in the cut-off for admission into IITs. Currently, 60% is the requirement for appearing for IIT-JEE. Then a cut-off is decided every year for IIT-JEE. Class XII results are being factored to break the stranglehold of coaching centres. In the last meeting of the IIT Council, there was consensus that more weightage be given to the school-leaving examination.

As for the fee hike, IIT Kanpur had prepared a detailed proposal on hiking the tuition fee. At present, B.Tech students are paying Rs 50,000 per year as fee. The proposal suggested increasing the fee to Rs 4 lakh per annum over a period of 10 years.

At the meeting, Sibal also asked the IITs to indicate in four weeks the specialized area they want to focus on to emerge as global giants in that area by 2020. The new IITs will consider their roadmaps in two months’ time.

source: TOI