To de-stress students, 6 more IITs end option to change branch after 1st year

Starting this year, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Dhanbad, IIT Dharwad, IIT Mandi and IIT Bhubaneswar have stopped this practice. IIT Bombay, IIT Hyderabad, and IIT Jammu discontinued it in 2023, 2021 and 2018, respectively.

At IIT Madras, ranked first among all IITs in the National Institutional Ranking Framework, the decision was prompted by the most recent periodic review of the institute’s curriculum by a task force, which is typically focused on improving and modernising what students learn.

Dr Prathap Haridoss, Dean (Academic Courses), IIT Madras, said, “… nearly 50 per cent of them assume that they will change their branch after the first year, but in reality, only 10 per cent or less students are able to exercise the option… and the remaining are left disappointed.”

Aniruddha Chakraborty, Dean of Academics at IIT Mandi, agrees that the option often creates an impression among students that they have the freedom to switch branches, which is not as freely available as perceived. The institute hopes that the absence of the branch change option will not be felt, thanks to other choices such as free electives and double majors. “Through these options, we are hoping that students will not be demotivated and can now join the programme of their choice and excel in the chosen subjects,” Chakraborty said.

Electives are courses or subjects that students can select based on their personal interests or career goals. Unlike mandatory or core courses, electives offer students the flexibility to explore various areas of study outside their major or core curriculum. With a specific number of electives in a particular domain, a student can claim a minor degree in it upon graduation.

IITs are also encouraging students to opt for double majors which is BTech programme where a student can earn a second major on his/her degree.

Professor V K Tewari, Director of IIT Kharagpur, said, “The Double Major programme is expected to attract a large number of brilliant students to pursue studies in an area of their interest apart from the basic programme… It is hoped that they can do this without much mental stress as they can complete their BTech (Hons)/BS (Hons) programme along with Double Major in four to five years.”

Pandrangi Aditya Sriram, Academic Affairs Secretary, IIT Hyderabad, who is pursuing a double major in electrical engineering and computer science engineering, says he is happy the institute’s policy motivated him to opt for double majors, rather than changing the branch.

“Due to my double major, I have two specialisations… If I had the branch change option, I surely would have been a lot more stressed in my first year. Also, I think only truly passionate students will take up double majors, as it is a bit more hectic,” Sriram said.

Tewari added that once the branch change is abolished, “the first year curriculum need not be common across all branches”.

While free electives and double majors are two alternatives, the third alternative is the recently introduced dual degrees in IITs. IIT Madras also offers MTech along with BTech in five years besides Interdisciplinary Degrees in domains such as Nanotechnology, Data Science and Electric Vehicles, among other fields that are in demand by the Industry.