Language should not be barrier at IITs

Kharagpur (West Bengal) Aug 18 (IANS) Language should not be considered a barrier for students at IITs an MHRD official said here on Friday urging IIT Kharagpur to expand humanities education further to help students balance academic pressure with mental well-being.

"You must make good use of humanities education to the extent courses/institute allows. Language becomes a bit of a challenge for some students who have different mother tongues (and are not well versed in English) " Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) Higher Education Secretary K.K. Sharma said in his address at IIT Kharagpur s 67th Foundation Day.

"I am requesting the students to make sure none of the (younger) students should think that language can be a handicap. I am happy to know that you have a language lab here and this lab should be available for students throughout the year so that language should not really be a hurdle " Sharma said.

"I think humanities education should be expanded further and students must make the most of it. I am requesting the director that you should help with the language for all students at any point of time " he said.

Sharma also stressed on balancing academic stress with mental well-being.

"Some young students find it challenging to be away from family and friends (during their IIT course years). There is a huge amount of tool available to deal with this challenge. There I would suggest the Department of Happiness and other departments at IIT Kharagpur (to chip in) " Sharma added.

--IANS
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