IITs to offer one year executive MTech course

In a recently conducted meeting chaired by HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, the IIT Council cleared a proposal for a one year long executive MTech programme. Designed for professionals who do not have the time to pursue a full two-year term, the course is for students who land into jobs immediately after graduation. Besides catering to professionals, the programme will be an essential step towards ensuring that more IIT students opt for research work.

The programme fee structure will be decided by the board of governors of all the 23 IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology). The two year MTech programme being offered currently costs Rs 20,000 a year. However, the fees for this year long programme will be equal to the fee charged by private institutes. The idea behind proposing a fee equivalent to the "market rate" is to help increase revenues.

Out of the 72000 students studying at the premier IITs, approximately 14000 are pursuing MTech. According to reports, IITs have been having issues retaining MTech students once they get a job.