Over 1,200 IIT, NIT graduates to teach at engineering colleges in poor districts

NEW DELHI: More than 1200 graduates from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs) will be teaching at engineering colleges in poor districts.

The announcement was made by Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday. The union minister took to Twitter to give this good news.

"More than 1200 smart grads from IITs/NITs going to teach in engineering colleges in poor districts for 3 years!! #idealism @HRDMinistry is committed to PM @narendramodi ‘s vision of bringing in a quantum jump to quality of education our country. #Antyodaya #NewIndia," he tweeted.

More than 1200 smart grads from IITs/NITs going to teach in engineering colleges in poor districts for 3 years!! #idealism @HRDMinistry is committed to PM @narendramodi ‘s vision of bringing in a quantum jump to quality of education our country. #Antyodaya #NewIndia pic.twitter.com/ZKZGRydDCL

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) January 31, 2018

The graduates will work as faculties in as many as 53 state-run engineering colleges in backward areas across 11 states and Union Territories for a period of three years. Each of them will be paid a salary of Rs 70,000 per month with the government spending nearly Rs 375 crore for the initiative.

"This is the first time such a measure has been taken to improve the quality of education in backward areas. With the initiative, more than one lakh engineering students in the most backward areas would be benefited with better quality of education," Javadekar said.

The HRD minister said up to 60 per cent of faculty strength was lying vacant in these colleges, which failed to attract qualified teachers.

"A public appeal was given to M Tech and PhD students from the premier institutions to work in the backward areas and serve the nation. There was an overwhelming response to the call and more than 5,000 highly-qualified persons applied," the minister added.

The initiative is part of the Technical Education Quality Improvement Project (TEQIP-III) for improving the quality of engineering graduates at a cost of Rs 2,300 crore, to be implemented during the three-year period till 2020.

Javadekar said 86 per cent of 1,225 teachers were selected from premier institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs), and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs), with 24 per cent of them holding PhDs.

As many as 301 teachers will head to 11 institutes in Rajasthan, 210 to seven institutes in Bihar, 194 to seven institutes in Madhya Pradesh and 191 to six institutes in Jharkhand.
Other institutes for which the faculty has been selected include Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the minister added.

(With agency inputs)