CET candidates can bite into Quality Index

BANGALORE: To enable meritorious candidates of the Common Entrance Test (CET) make an informed choice about which technical college to opt for, the state government, through the Board for Information Technology Education Standards (BITES) will be floating a Quality Index for IT-related courses.
Says Dr K. R. S. Murthy, Chairman of BITES: ``The Quality Index of a particular institution will be measured through three basic parameters.The quality of the students that the college attracts, the academic and IT infrastructure it commands (number of teachers, PCs etc) and the performance of students in the semester exams.''''
The Quality Index to be made public through the BITES website, www.bangalore-bites.org on June 7 will provide exhaustive information on over 100 engineering colleges affiliated to the Visvesvaraya Technological University ( VTU) in the state. On the basis of certain elementary calculations, a student guided by the Quality Index on the website can clearly decide which of the colleges will effectively cater to his academic affinities.
To create a robust and flawless Index, BITES has formed a Quality Index Committee, under the Chairmanship of Prof M. H. Dhananjay, Director, JSS Technical institutions who also happens to be the member of the governing body of VTU.
``At present, the committee is compiling, processing and evaluating the deluge of statistics that are flowing in from various engineering colleges in the state. Precision is crucial here,'''' says Murthy.
BITES, a non-profit society, with representations from the industry and educational institutions, was established two years ago to promote and accredit IT education within the state.
The VTU has recently revised the curriculum for computer science and engineering and information technology. Experts find the revised curriculum to be competitive, but would like its delivery and the learning keep pace with the growing standards for effective career development, maintains Murthy.
In the coming days, BITES will launch a series of interactive programs to aid educational institutions, students, faculty and the industry to work together.