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Indian Institute of Technology Bombay has taken a decision that it will remove the branch change option to decrease the stress on the students.
New Delhi: In order to reduce stress on first-year students, IIT Bombay has decided to remove the possibility of branch switching.
According to IIT Bombay, many students were experiencing stress due to the pressure of achieving higher grades in order to receive a branch change.
To further lighten the academic load, the institute has also chosen to cut one course per semester in the first year.
The choice was made at the Senate's 256th session, which was held on Friday (May 12, 2023) and covered a number of initiatives to lessen the academic pressure on first-year students.
Among the first-generation IITs, IIT Bombay will be the first to make this choice after the suicide news of first-year student Darshan Solanki.
The institute established a separate committee in March 2023 to investigate how to decrease academic stress on students, particularly those in their first year, in response to an interim report submitted by a panel that was looking into the suicide of Solanki that suggested his "deteriorating academic performance" could have been a possible cause.
“This choice was taken in response to the fact that many students were under stress due to the pressure to achieve higher marks in order to switch branches, even if only a small number of students really benefited from the change.The number of seats available at the time of entry may be somewhat increased in some of the more popular branches in response. Another key decision made by the Senate was to reduce the number of courses required of first-year students by one every semester. Students who struggle with their workload will therefore have more time to devote to their classes”, read the statement by the institute.
The changes will be in effect from the academic year 2023. The branch that students desire to enter must now be carefully chosen by them. As a result of this move, students who enrol in mechanical engineering at IIT-Bombay will graduate from that programme in that field, as opposed to the previous policy, which allowed students to change their majors based on test performance.
A survey of current students was conducted by the Committee that the institute formed to look into ways to decrease the academic burden on first-year students. The observations were presented to the Senate for final approval based on that report. Students will now need to finish four courses instead of five, with lab work, due to the decision to cut one course every semester in the first year.
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