Government to IITs: Scrap courses with few attendees
What's the story
The Ministry of Human Resource Development has directed centrally-funded institutions including Indian Institutes of Technology to close down those courses which do not have many takers.
Institutions have been asked to shut down their branches and courses which are witnessing a declining number of applicants since 3 years.
The ministry further asked the institutions to introduce new programmes and courses.
About
Indian Institutes of Technology
There are currently 23 IITs across the country.
According to QS World University Rankings 2016-17, the highest ranked Indian engineering school was IIT Delhi, followed by IIT Bombay. IIT D is at 185th place, while Bombay's rank is 219.
Unimpressive rankings in the past have been attributed to a very small intake of foreign students and limited international faculty.
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Introduction of new programmes
Minister of state for HRD Mahendra Nath Pandey on Thursday said, "New courses and disciplines may be introduced only after analyzing market opportunity, employability and requirement of higher education/research/entrepreneurship".