‘Indian School of Mines could be converted as IIT’

Dhanbad-based Indian School of Mines (ISM) could be converted into an IIT while ensuring that its core competency is not diluted, Planning Commission has recommended to the government.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor said, “The Planning Commission has recommended that ISM Dhanbad may be converted into an IIT while ensuring that its core competency in mining and geology would be central to the institution and would not be diluted.”

ISM Dhanbad with the approval of its Finance Committee, Executive Board and General Council has forwarded the proposal for its conversion into an IIT, he said.

The approval on ‘Conversion of ISM Dhanbad into an IIT’ is an agenda item for the meeting of the council of the IITs to be held on January 7, Tharoor said.

In reply to a question on Gross Enrolment Ratio in the country, Union Minister for HRD M M Pallam Raju said, the GER has gone up to 18.8 per cent in 2010-11.

“The GER of students in higher education as a percentage of population in the age group of 18-23 years has increased from 13.7 per cent in 2008-09 to 18.8 per cent (provisional) in 2010-11, as compared to estimated world average of 29 per cent during the year 2009-10 as per the Global Education Digest 2012 published by UNESCO,” Raju said.

He also said that the National Knowledge Commission had recommended a series of initiatives for expansion, governance, curriculum research, faculty development, finance, asset management and affirmative actions.

On whether government is aware that controversies are arising regarding syllabus of CBSE, Tharoor said “No Such controversies have come to the notice of the CBSE.”