The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) may permit academically week students to exit early, The Indian Express has reported.

The proposal to let academically weak students finish their course in three years and award them a B.Sc degree in Engineering is on the agenda of the IIT Council meeting on September 27, the newspaper has learnt.

The Council is the highest decision making body for all 23 IITs and is headed by the Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD).

Currently, students who enroll in IIITs for the undergraduate programme are awarded the B.Tech degree after completion of four years. However, many students with weak grades are known to drop out midway.

According to data shared by the HRD Ministry in Parliament this year, 2,461 students dropped out of different IITs across undergraduate as well as post graduate programmes in the last two years for various reasons, including expulsion because of poor academic performance.

This year, IIT Kanpur expelled 18 students on the grounds of poor grades, the newspaper reported. Of these, half were B.Tech students.

It is for the benefit of such students that the HRD Ministry is considering providing an exit option after six semesters (or three years) instead of eight semesters (or four years).

The proposal will allow academically weak students to opt for B.Sc (Engineering) after the second semester and leave after three years, provided they meet the minimum academic standards.

Sources have told the newspaper that if the proposal is approved, IITs will implement the recommendation from the current academic year.

An estimated 9 lakh students take each cycle of the JEE (main), which is held twice a year. Of them, a meagre 13,500 get a seat in the premier institute.

Apart from the proposal, the IIT Council will also take a decision on empowering the Board of Governors for an IIT to pick its members and chairperson. Currently, the HRD Ministry appoints them.

In addition, a proposal for financial autonomy to IITs is also on the table, according to which, the institute will charge tuition fee based on actual costs. The newspaper has estimated it to be around Rs 7 lakh per year as against the current Rs 2 lakh per annum. However, the government will provide financial help to students through scholarships or “in any other manner as it deems fit”.