IIT-M launches online BS programme, aligned with India Semiconductor Mission

9. Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati | Location: Assam | 2018 Rank: 12 (Image: Wiki Commons)

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday launched a four-year online Bachelor of Science in Electronic Systems programme of the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras.

The key objective of the programme, aligned with the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), is to meet the significant and growing demand for skilled graduates in the electronics and embedded manufacturing sector in the country. It is open to all students, irrespective of age and they should have studied Mathematics and Physics in their Class 12 or equivalent.

The programme has multiple exit options and the students may opt for a Foundational Level Certificate, Diploma or the BS degree. The ISM is to make the country a global hub for electronics manufacturing and design.

”This is the second online BS programme from IIT Madras following the BS Degree in Data Science and Applications, which has more than 17,000 students studying currently,” an IIT-M press release here said.

Virtually launching the programme, Dharmendra Pradhan said that after the success of BS in Data Science course, launched in 2020, IIT Madras now has another feather in its cap, the BS in Electronic Systems. He congratulated team IIT Madras under the leadership of its Director, Prof V Kamakoti and said that the new launch is a right approach to implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Recommendations of the NEP including flexibility, job and entrepreneurship orientation, credit framework, multiple entries and exits and affordability in higher education alongside quality and accessibility are the hallmarks of BS in Electronic Sytems, Pradhan added.

Admission to the programme is possible without JEE through an in-built 4-week qualifier process. Candidates who apply would be provided access to four weeks of content taught by IIT Madras faculty and the qualifier exam will be based on this content alone. Sufficient support would be provided to candidates in the form of discussion forums and live sessions.

On his Twitter handle Pradhan said: ”In this era of innovation and research when we are coming up with initiatives like #DigitalUniversity, this new-age course will give further impetus to enhancing the reach of quality and affordable education till the last mile as well as boosting employability.”

Pawan K Goenka, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Madras said, ”The course today on Electronic Systems is also very timely. All sectors today are becoming very electronics dependent. If I look at automobiles sector, for example, you can call a car a computer on wheels.

Even in servicing of automobiles, you need to have electronics knowledge. As we look to the future, the jobs will be more and more be moving towards electronics expertise and therefore, to offer a course like at this time to prepare the youth for being ready to participate in this growing field of electronics is very timely.”