The Facts about CUSAT
- Similar to IIT s and IISc, 100% Professors and Readers of the
Postgraduate and Research departments of CUSAT have Ph. D Degree - Similar to IIT s and IISc, CUSAT is also producing on an average 73
PhD’s per year (according to the annual report of the CUSAT,
2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2005-2006) - Similar to IIT s and IISc, CUSAT is also publishing more than 450
Research Papers. (According to Annul Report 2006-2006 the number is
460) - While IIT s and IISc are admitting more Male (80%) students in
Postgraduate and Research programmes , CUSAT is admitting more Female
students (60%) . - While IIT s and IISc are admitting students belonging to upper cast
and upper class, CUSAT is admitting students from all communities. - Male to Female ratio in B. Tech admission at IIT s is ~ 10:1 where
as in CUSAT, it is ~ 4:1
So upon conversion
- Kerala Govt will lose a Science and Technology University of growing international standards with high female student intake and affordable fees.
- The proposed fund allocation does not provide scope for considerable improvement in academic standards and research out put.
- The thrust of IIEST will be for engineering education. The Departments under the faculty of Science, Social Science, Humanities and Law will be at peril. At present, in CUSAT, these are the leading Departments, which have brought fame and glory to CUSAT
- The intake of Kerala students may be reduced from 1520 to 660; in addition to limiting the admission of female students, as in IIT Madras where male/female ratio is about 10:1 or as in IIT-Kharagpur,where it is 20:1
- During the next four years, out of the 5300 seats lost by the Kerala students, 2386 will belong to SC/ ST, OBC, OBH, OBX, SEBC and physically handicapped. This will happen even if the Central Govt. approves our demand for 50 % reservation to the students of the state.
- After the 11th plan, there is no guaranty that the institution will be a public funded one
- De-linking of affiliated colleges may create trouble to the Kerala Govt
- Several Non teaching staff may lose their job while following IIT pattern
- Presence of 30% foreign students in a small place may cause trouble to local people.
The Assets of CUSAT: The State is at a Loss
During the last 36 years of existence of CUSAT, the State Government
has invested about Rs. 3000 crores for building up the infrastructure.
CUSAT has in its possession 200 acres of Land (three campuses at
Thrikkakara, in the heart of Ernakulam City and at Pulinkunnu), with
good buildings and necessary infrastructure facilities including
Computer networking and Internet facility (which is one of the best in
the country) and very good library. The state Government has
invested so much funds for the benefit of the students of the state;
to provide quality education and research opportunities. The common
students of the state were highly benefited by the high quality
education and training CUSAT had offered in various disciplines of
Science, Marine (Ocean ) Science, Social Science, Humanities and Law;
with affordable fees. The fees structure at the proposed IIEST will be
unaffordable to the common students of the state (similar to the IIT
s, IIM s and NIT s). Many of the courses offered by CUSAT are unique
in their structure and content. The MBA and LLM courses offered by
CUSAT are rated best of their kind in the country. Conversion to IIEST
will render these courses to peril. The state will be at a loss if we
hand over the CUSAT to the Central Government for a trifling amount of
Rs. 518 crores.
Admission to IIEST: the Students of Kerala will be at a Loss
The Recommendations of the Ananthakrishnan Committee do not provide
justice to the students of Kerala. It is proposed that 30 % of seats
in all courses will be reserved for foreign students. Even if the
Central Govt. agrees for 50 % reservation of seats for the students
from the state, the number of seats available for students from the
state will be much less than that available now.
Now CUSAT is admitting 2300 students (1200 students in B. Tech, M. Sc,
M. Tech, MCA and Ph. D under regular stream in postgraduate and
research departments along with 1100 B. Tech, BCA and MCA in self
financing stream in SOE, CUCEK and CUCCAK) . Out of this, 90% of
students in the post graduate teaching and research departments
(regular stream) are from the state of Kerala. Here the male- female
ratio is 2:3. In the self-financing B. Tech/ BCA/ MCA stream, the
present percentage of Kerala students is roughly 40%. In this stream,
the male-female ratio is about 4:1.
We can realize that, in an all India competitive examination, the
percentage of girl students passing out successfully will be very
limited. Thus the girl students from the state will be at a much more
loss; now they are at an advantage in CUSAT.
Conversion to IIEST: Social Justice is Denied
The conversion of CUSAT to IIEST will lead to the denial of social
justice, with regard to the admission of students belonging to SC/ ST,
OBC etc. At present, CUSAT is providing admission to all sections of
socially and educationally backward communities of the state. Since
most of the courses offered by CUSAT are classified as professional
courses, distinct percentages of seats are reserved for SC/ ST (20 %),
OBC, OBH, OBX and SEBC (25%) and physically handicapped (5 %)
students. But when CUSAT is converted to IIEST, these reservation
opportunities will be lost. Thus during the next four years, the
number of Seats lost by different categories of students will be:
- SC/ ST : 810
- OBC/OBH/OBX/SEBC : 1313
- PH : 263
———————————————–
Total :2386
Thus out of the 5300 seats lost by the Kerala students, 2386 will
belong to SC/ ST, OBC, OBH, OBX, SEBC and physically handicapped.
Political Consequences
The loss of considerable number of seats by the Kerala Students,
particularly those belonging to the weaker sections of the society
[SC/ ST, OBC, OBH, OBX, SEBC and physically handicapped].
IIEST –A Globalization Agenda
The genesis of IIEST is part of the globalization –privatization
agenda. The present level of employability of B Tech graduates passing
out from the Engineering colleges in India is very poor due to the
pathetic quality of education provided in such colleges. The global
job market demands more percentage of readily employable ( with out
spending much for training) B Tech graduates. For this, the quality of
engineering education has to be considerably improved. INI s like
IIEST may be helpful in producing high quality engineering graduates/
post graduates suitable for the global job market.
The proposal before the MHRD clearly mentions about private –public
participation for setting up IIEST brand of Institutions. During the
11th plan period a lump sum grant of ~500 crores may be given to the
institutions. But the proposal keeps silence about the funding after
11th plan period. It is envisaged that these institutions will be
the first trial dose of private participation as envisioned by the
Higher Education Commission 2002 (Ambani Commission). We have a
bitter experience regarding the former KTDC Hotel at Kovalam.
Conversion to IIEST : Practical Difficulties
The Conversion of CUSAT to IIEST may create some practical
difficulties also. At present, 26 Engineering Colleges are affiliated
to CUSAT. CUSAT takes care of the academic control as well as the
conduct of examinations of these colleges. Once CUSAT is converted to
IIEST, these colleges have to be de-linked from CUSAT. Based on the
workload in connection with the administration of these colleges,
several clerical posts have been created in CUSAT. When these
colleges are de-linked from CUSAT, large number of clerical staff will
have to be redeployed. The number of clerical staff required while
following IIT pattern will be much less than the present staff
strength, many of the clerical staff may lose their job or will have
to be redeployed to other Universities.
Ugradation to IIT status – The case of NIT s
In the year 2002,14 REC s across the country were converted to NIT s
,which was considered as the first stage in elevating these
institutions to IIT level. But during the last five years, no
substantial improvements has occurred to the NIT s. They have not
reached the IIT level. Even though large amount of funds were pumped
into the NIT s, no improvements has been noticed in their research out
puts. In many of the NIT s several instruments/ equipments purchased
out of the funds received are lying idle with out being used. Thus it
is seen that availability of funds alone will not improve academic
standards and research out put.
Under these circumstances,CUSAT should trasfer to central goverment
and It may be good if Cochin Unversity College of Engineering is
converted to IIEST.
http://cucek.cusat.ac.in/ we feel that the Government should not
decline the offer of Central Assistance, but shall accept the proposal
in that way.
Added on 3/07/2012
CUSAT is again being considered for IIEST status….. The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is likely to consider upgradation of Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) into an Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) under the 12 Five Year Plan. Read more here : http://www.cusatxpress.com/2012/07/cusat-likely-to-be-upgraded-to-iiest-under-12th-plan/