Chennai, Sep 15: For students in Jammu and Kashmir, the next IIT Madras admission cycle could come with a specific target: at least 5 per cent of students in its BS programme from the Union Territory.
Speaking to Jammu and Kashmir media delegation in Chennai as part of a PIB press tour, IIT Madras Director Kamakoti Veezhinathan said the institute would work with the media to take information about its online programmes to students in Jammu and Kashmir, including those in villages.
“My request from you is that you, in Jammu and Kashmir, talk about this BS programme. We will keep a target that in the next admission, at least 5 per cent students must come from Jammu and Kashmir. We will work with you,” he said.
The emphasis on villages was part of a larger point Veezhinathan made about the role of technology in widening access to education.
Referring to IIT Madras’ outreach programmes, he said the institute’s experience had shown that academic ability was not confined to cities. “Our intelligence is everywhere. Intelligence is not just in cities,” he said.
Veezhinathan said the institute’s experience in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka had shown the importance of local media in taking information about its BS programme to students. He urged journalists from Jammu and Kashmir to similarly take the programme to villages.
The BS programme is one part of IIT Madras’ larger attempt to take education outside its physical campus. The institute has also developed programmes for school students and an initiative called Vidya Shakti, under which teaching support is provided to students in government and other schools through technology.
Veezhinathan said Vidya Shakti is currently being implemented across 10 states, including Ladakh, with lessons delivered through internet-connected systems and teachers and faculty members helping students in their mother tongue.
The larger challenge, he said, was to take such interventions to places where students may have the ability but lack access to teachers or specialised courses.
The institute has also expanded its online degree offerings following changes brought about by the National Education Policy, Veezhinathan said. The BS programme allows students to pursue a degree without being physically present on the IIT Madras campus.
