IIM Lucknow’s new course, IIT news, MBBS’ revised passing marks, G20 and more — latest education updates

Details on IIT Delhi-Abu Dhabi’s temporary campus, Karnataka's change in the examination system, story of 21-year-old Anil Kumar who was found dead in his hostel room and more. We bring you the top education news from past week.

From IIT Mandi suspending students for ragging, IIM Calcutta’s director’s resignation, to NMC’s decision to revised passing marks for MBBS — here is a wrap of all the major events that took place in the education sector this week.

Banda village to IIT Delhi, and an abrupt end to the dream journey of a 21 year old

On September 1, 21-year-old Anil Kumar, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Banda district, was found dead in his hostel room at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. Back home, sitting on a plastic chair in the uneven, kuccha courtyard of her two-room house, Devi points to the guava tree to which a few goats are tied.

It was on August 31, two days after the family last had a conversation with Anil, that Amit Kumar, 31, the eldest of Devi’s four children, got the call from IIT-Delhi.

“It was not a conversation I had imagined even in my worst nightmare. I did not know whether to believe the caller or not. I was sure that my brother would not do something like that,” says Amit, an Arts graduate who drives a tempo in Banda and is the family’s sole earning member. Since his father Suresh Kumar, a bus conductor, passed away in September 2020, the family had been struggling financially.

G20 Declaration: Members commit to equitable, inclusive, quality education

In line with its predecessors, the G20 Declaration released Saturday reiterated members’ commitment to “inclusive, equitable, high-quality,” education, while taking a step forward in advocating use of technology and AI to improve and ensure last-mile delivery of education.

“We reiterate our commitment to harness digital technologies to overcome digital divides for all learners. We extend support to educational institutions and teachers to enable them to keep pace with emerging trends and technological advances including AI,” the declaration stated.

It also emphasised the “importance of enabling life-long learning focused on skilling, reskilling, and upskilling, especially for vulnerable groups”.

IIM-Calcutta director Uttam Kumar Sarkar quits; second in 2 years: ‘Differences with board chair’

The Director of the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta (IIM-C), Uttam Kumar Sarkar, is learnt to have resigned over differences with the Board chairperson, making him the second institute head in two years to leave before completing a five-year term.

Sarkar is learnt to have resigned on August 23, and his resignation letter was circulated among all members of the Board of Governors (BoG) last week. Sources told The Indian Express that the resignation hasn’t been accepted yet and is likely to be discussed at the next Board meeting scheduled for this week, on September 8.

Sarkar was appointed director on August 18, 2021, and still had almost three years left of his term.

IIT Mandi punishes 72 students over ragging, ringfences freshers

IIT Mandi has banned interaction between senior batches and first-year students for a whole semester and initiated disciplinary action against 72 students — including the suspension of 10 students for six months — in response to allegations of ragging during a “freshers’ mixer” held last month, The Indian Express has learnt.

After a gap of 9 years, India wins second gold at International Olympiad for Informatics

This year, a team of four students went to the International Olympiads for Informatics. It is one of the top five science olympiads across the world. India has been participating in international competition for the last 22 years and this year, the Indian team won a gold medal after nine years. This is the second time the Indian team has bagged gold at the International Olympiad for Informatics, the last time was in 2014.

India was represented by four students and they all won medals. Kshitij Sodani secured a gold medal, Paras Kasmalkar and Shreyan Ray got silver medals and Sushil Raaja U won a bronze medal. The contingent was led by Madhavan Mukund, director of Chennai Mathematical Institute and Jatin Yadav of IIT Delhi. The competition was held in Szeged, Hungary.

IIM Lucknow restructures elective course on Indian philosophy, includes theory of ‘karma’

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow has recently restructured an elective course on ‘The Wisdom of Indian Philosophy’. The course is taught in English and has some traces of modern theories. It primarily relies on tenets of Indian philosophy derived in Sanskrit from Patanjali Yoga Sutras, Samkhya Karika, Upanishads with references from the Bhagavad Gita.

With new reform, Karnataka to bring flexibility in examination system from this year

In what comes as a major announcement on Teacher’s Day, the school education department has decided to do away with ‘supplementary examination’ and instead introduce Exam 1, 2 and 3 for SSLC (class 10) and second PU (class 12) students of Karnataka, from the academic year 2023-24.

NMC amends CBME curriculum guideline; passing marks reduced to 40%

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has reduced the passing marks to 40 per cent for MBBS subjects having two papers. The commission has amended the Competency Based Medical Education (CBME) curriculum guidelines regarding the passing marks in university conducted examinations.

As per the revised guidelines, “In subjects that have two papers, the learner must secure minimum 40 per cent of marks in aggregate (both papers together) to pass in said subject.”

How Kerala’s Kottayam achieved 100% literacy

September 8 is celebrated as International Literacy Day all around the world. For Kottayam, a district in Kerala, the day serves as a reminder of its past glory. On June 12, 1989, people in the district had created history by achieving 100 per cent literacy.

Read a report by The Indian Express on how the district attained 100 per cent literacy in 1989.

Is IIT’s late night culture is affecting students’ mental health

From playing badminton matches during the wee hours to finishing assignments before the early morning submission deadline — the late night culture has been pretty popular in IITs across the country. But does that help students? indianexpress.com talked to several IIT students, faculty members and mental health experts to understand the same.

Many IIT students — present and graduated — admitted that they usually do not have any set schedule to follow. While some end up missing the first (8 am) class due to lack of sleep, others rely on cups of coffee to stay awake during the lectures.

‘IIT Delhi-Abu Dhabi’s temporary campus will start in January 2024’: Dr Ahmed Sultan Al Shoaibi

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi is set to open a campus in Abu Dhabi and will start offering degrees from 2024 onwards. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Education and the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) in July this year.

Till now, IIT Delhi has not revealed details regarding the admission procedure or fees. However, to give more insight about this international collaboration, indianexpress.com in an email interaction with Dr Ahmed Sultan Al Shoaibi, acting executive director of Higher Education Sector, ADEK, discussed the faculty, courses, placement process and why Abu Dhabi wants to collaborate with Indian institutions.

 ‘Why humanities courses are integral – not supplementary – for engineering students’

Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) courses have been mandatory and integral components of the BTech programmes across IITs ever since the inception of the IIT system in the 1950s. HSS subjects comprise at least 10 per cent or more of the total credits that a BTech student completes in order to earn the degree. These courses, dependant on the faculty strength and focus areas in each of the 23 IITs, are wide-ranging: Communication skills, Economics, History, Language and Literature, Management, Philosophy, Psychology, Public Policy, Sociology, among others.

HSS courses in the IITs equip tomorrow’s engineers and scientists with a portable tool-kit that enables them to understand their place – as professionals, as citizens and as human beings – in a rapidly evolving world.

Devika Sethi, an Assistant Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Mandi, talks about why humanities courses are integral for engineering students.