In a unique gesture, the Pune based industrialist Pramod Chaudhary pledges Rs 2.5 crore for the project which will help teachers of IITs and other engineering institutes across India
Pune-based alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) has pledged ?2.5 to set up a centre of learning and teaching at his alma mater. The centre aims to equip IIT-B teachers with the latest teaching techniques suited for fast-paced learners who have reduced attention span and attitude compared to those who joined IITs many years back.
Pramod Chaudhari, Executive Chairman of global process solutions company Praj Industries announced a donation of Rs 2.5 crores for the centre on Sunday during the 'Alumni day' function.
The Centre will promote and support advanced technical education system in the country.
It will also provide support to instructors at all levels, from new faculty members to experts.
"The centre will also work with doctoral students, teaching assistants for under-graduate and post-graduate courses, as well as students of the Institute," say IIT-B officials.
Such centres to train technology teachers have already been set-up by the Yale University, MIT and some other foreign institutions. However, the proposed centre at IIT-B would be first of its kind in India.
The centre will rope in psychologists and subject experts on all Engineering courses to devise best techniques for enhanced and effective learning for learners of each branch.
Explaining about the challenges of teaching to BTech students today, Professor Ravi Sinha, dean of alumni affairs and Head of the department of Civil Engineering said,"The BTech curriculum is increasingly getting advanced and rigorous compared to the one which was there a decade ago. However, the syllabus of Class 12 is not revised to the same extent."
"Also, earlier the IITs use to teach basic subjects for initial two years which was followed by two years of rigorous syllabi. Now, complex topics are there in the first and second year also. But the learners are of the same level. This makes our job very difficult," says prof Sinha.
Short attention span of the younger lot is also posing great problem for the educators.
"It's not possible to keep the students engaged for longer duration anymore because of low concentration span. But we don't have any set-method to deal with it though some of us are trying own method to increase their attention span. The proposed centre aims to help the teachers in all these aspects."
Number of first and second year students flunking semester exams is considerably high and students often blame it on the rigorous curriculum which they are unable to grasp.
Dropout of students is also not new in IITs. Besides, over 20-25% of the graduates across IITs fail to secure job in campus placement drive because of the poor skills.
More the merrier
The Silver Jubilee Batch (class of 1991) has pledged a sum of Rs 8 crore towards the legacy project. The money will be used in various projects within the campus.
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