IIT-B drops one subject per semester for 1st yr students

Mumbai: The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) made two major announcements on Friday in order to reduce academic pressure on students. Starting August 2023, the beginning of the new academic year, IIT-B has decided to drop one subject per semester for the students in the first year. The first year comprises two semesters.

First-year students of engineering will also no longer be allowed to change their branch at the end of their academic year. IIT-Bombay officials said the move will help freshers adjust to campus life.

The decision was taken at the 256th meeting of the IIT-Bombay senate held on Friday after considering an internal committee report that brought forth the academic stress and its reasons on first-year students. IIT-Bombay is among the front runners during admissions every year, with computer science being the most popular branch.

The institute had constituted a separate committee to examine ways to reduce academic stress on students, especially those in the first year. This was taken seriously after an interim report submitted by an internal panel probing the death of Darshan Solanki, a first-year chemical engineering student at the institute, who died by suicide on February 12..

“IIT-B is an institute for students. If we lose our students to academic pressure, it is the loss of one young mind of the nation. To make the stay of young minds of the country comfortable in our institute, we decided to reduce academic pressure for the first-year students,” said professor Subhasis Chaudhuri, director of IIT-B.

Friday saw a day-long senate meeting to discuss various points on the development of the institute. In this meeting, the internal report was presented and discussed. Along with IIT-B officials, academicians, and student representatives were also present.

Against the backdrop of the report submitted by the panel formed to investigate Solanki’s death, this new committee, the officials underlined, will not restrict its efforts to those coming on reserved category seats alone but those admitted on various other categories such as persons with disabilities and other students.

“This change helps students to get time to settle down on the campus. We are trying to give comfort to each student in the first year with this decision,” Chaudhari added.

In the meeting, one of the key decisions was to remove the option of ‘branch change’ at the end of the first year from 2023 onwards. Currently, students have the choice to change their branch after the first year. A statement from the institute read, “This decision was made based on the observation that the pressure to get higher grades to earn a branch change was causing stress to several students, while only a few benefit from the change of branch. The number of seats at the time of admission may be correspondingly increased by a small number in some of the popular branches.”