CHENNAI: Now Standard XII students from commerce and humanities too can hope to enter the famed Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M).

It has finalised the courseware for a five-year integrated M.A programme in humanities. The fully residential study will be introduced in 2006-07.

Selection will be based on a humanities-sciences entrance examination (HSEE) that will test English/comprehension skills, analytical capabilities and general knowledge. The examination will be held on May 21 in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.

The initial intake will be 30 candidates and the number is expected to stabilise around 50 after four or five years.

After two years of general studies, the students will be evaluated and allotted one of the three areas: Development Studies, Economics and English studies.

Addressing newspersons here on Tuesday, IIT-Madras Director M.S. Ananth said so far humanities accounted for only about eight per cent of the B.Tech programmes.

"For a long time, we have felt that undergraduate students need a good exposure to humanities."

The institute has humanities and science departments too. The students learn these subjects, but in a limited context. However, the Humanities department offered Ph.D in a wide range of disciplines.

Dr. Ananth said most technology graduates opted for managerial posts, though several distinguished alumni had shifted to humanities and management-related areas. "After sometime, you learn to use more of common sense than technical skills," he said.

Unique effort

"The IIT-M will be one of the few technical institutions to offer this kind of humanities programme," said V.R. Muralidharan, Humanities Department Head. The IIT-Kanpur offered an M.Sc programme in economics.

The other departments would provide inputs in science and innovation, technology and sustainable development, built environment and society, development planning and project appraisal and gender studies.

The curriculum had been finalised with inputs from experts. The programme would include compulsory courses in ecology, environmental and life sciences, basics in statistics, mathematics, information technology, communication skills and a foreign language.

The minor streams on offer included environmental policy, health care management, technology policy, computer and society, and development policy and planning.

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