IIT Madras: A pioneering step, the IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) at Madras has been the first IIT to implement a specific sports quota for its undergraduate courses. This programme, named “Sports Excellence Admission” (SEA), will start in academic year 2024-2025 with a view to acknowledging and recognising highly skilled athletes by affording them a degree of academic activity where they can retain their sporting career.
Admission Details and Eligibility Criteria
Under the SEA program, IIT Madras will offer two supernumerary seats in each of its undergraduate programs for Indian nationals, with one seat exclusively reserved for female students. Applicants to this program are required to:.
- To secure a place in the Common Rank List (CRL) or the category-wise rank list of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced.
- Won at least one medal in any national or international-level sport competition within the past four years.
Students applying through SEA will need to pass the JEE Advanced qualification; however a separate portal managed by IIT Madras will process the application outside the usual process Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) portal. A separate ‘Sports Rank List’ (SRL) will be prepared based on the candidates’ performance in a specified list of sports, and seat allotment will be conducted accordingly.
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Selected Athletes and Their Achievements
In its inaugural implementation, five national-level athletes have been admitted to IIT Madras’s B.Tech programs through the SEA:.
- Nandini Jain: Nandini, a renowned squash player of Delhi, has played for India in the Asian Junior Games 2018 and 2019. She got admission in B.Tech Computer Science and Engineering. With great enthusiasm, Nandini expressed, “IIT Madras is the center of science, and this is what enables me to combine science and sports.
- Prabhav Gupta: A national-level table tennis player, also a Delhiite,Prabhav is now enrolled for B.Tech in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. He said, “At IIT Madras there is the best platform for the scope of engineering studies which offers scope of learning, personality development and a successful professional life” .
- Aarohi Bhave: National junior volleyball player Aarohi, a native of Maharashtra, has joined the Bachelor of Science (Medical Science and Engineering) curriculum.
- Aryaman Mandal: An athlete of national-level water polo and swimming from West Bengal, Aryaman is a boy. He has been admitted to the B.Tech Computer Science and Engineering program.
- Vangala Vedavyas Reddy: An accomplished lawn tennis player from Andhra Pradesh, Vangala has secured a seat in the B.Tech Artificial Intelligence program.
Institutional Vision and Support
Announcing this program, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, emphasized the institute’s commitment to holistic education as envisaged in the National Education Policy 2020. He said, “This stage is recognizing the accomplishments of the young athletes, and letting them further explore their own sports from an engineering and technology point of view. Prof. Kamakoti further spoke about the institute’s plan to set up a state-of-the-art, a sports complex with latest equipment in the not so distant future, to help and inspire student-athletes.
Implications and Future Prospects
This pioneering initiative by IIT Madras not only sets a precedent for other premier institutions in India but also aligns with the broader objectives of the National Education Policy 2020, which advocates for the integration of sports and education. By providing a structured pathway for athletes to pursue higher education without compromising their sports careers, IIT Madras is fostering a more inclusive and diverse academic environment.
It is hoped that the introduction of the SEA program will lead to an increase in the number of athletes who may enter engineering and technology careers, assuming that their sports success is appreciated and taken to heart. It further highlights an increasing awareness of the key role of sport in personal growth and the demand for educational institutions to respond to the range of aptitudes and aspirations of learners.
With this program about to be implemented and fine-tuned at IIT Madras, it is likely to become a model for a number of other institutions wishing to reconcile academic achievement with sports achievement and thereby will foster, not just academically talented individuals, for whom academic success in a particular field or area of learning is expected, but also, and perhaps more importantly, individuals with the capacity to be successful in a wider range of domains.
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