BITS Pilani has recently entered a partnership with global ed-tech firm Coursera to launch a new degree programme—a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. In a first for the institute, the programme is completely online—a marked difference between it and the Work-Integrated Learning Programmes (WILP), which had online classes, but offered offline evaluations. The programme has been the subject of news articles and widespread media coverage since its launch. The English Press Club met with the Academic – Undergraduate Studies Dean, Professor Ajit Pratap Singh, for a brief discussion about the programme.

Prof. Singh started off by providing a history of the institute’s forays into distance education. The WILPs that have been offered for the past 42 years include B.Tech, M.Tech, MSc, and MBA degrees. Experience handling these programmes spurred the administration to introduce another program in the online mode—the BSc. The choice was made to select one of the emerging areas of engineering and technology with considerable demand. Hence, Computer Science was selected as the focus of the programme.

The Dean then went on to describe the structure and admissions specifics. The program has a three-year duration, although students may take up to six years to finish it. The two main criteria for admission, in addition to graduating from school, are proficiency in English and Mathematics (with a minimum of 60% in Mathematics in their final school examinations). However, students of any academic background are welcome to apply, so long as they have a valid TOEFL or IELTS score and pass a qualifying examination in mathematics, in lieu of an acceptable score in mathematics. The Dean remarked that one of the good things about the programme is its accessibility, noting that they could even expect international admissions. He added that they have already received over 5,000 applications.

The Dean said that the programme was designed in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which envisages educational reforms across all levels of study in the country. He stated that one of its manifesto points—a gross enrolment ratio of 50% by 2035—could only be achieved with increased accessibility. According to him, one of the reasons the programme was conceived was to allow students who could not get admission via the BITSAT to receive the exposure the institute offers. It was also in the interests of the Institute to serve the nation and contribute to the visualisation of NEP 2020. The Dean also said that he believes that it is the institute’s responsibility to further education, given its power and prestige. ‘I think, if you have expertise and if you have resources, and if you can design, then why we should not deliver it?’, he stated.

When asked about the process of collaborating with Coursera, the Dean made it clear that the institute and the platform had their respective roles to play in the facilitation of the program. He explained that degree awarding and content design were the responsibilities of the institute. To this end, faculty have already been identified in all three Indian campuses. According to the Dean, the Institute was partnering with Coursera as they have experience delivering content to a wide audience. He added that an MoU had been signed for this purpose.

He mentioned that some finer details of the programme have not been finalised yet—like credit transfer and other academic flexibilities. These require further discussion by the Senate. Seeming optimistic, he mentioned that these talks are already going on, and added that these flexibilities would be in line with NEP 2020. ‘Maybe in the coming times it will come. Still I will not be able to comment completely, because all these things are Senate matters,’ he said.

Prof. Singh did not comment in detail about the mode of evaluation, adding that the WILP Division would know more about that topic than he did. He mentioned that the WILP Division has ‘rich experience’ handling online assessments after the pandemic. According to the Dean, they have tested various service providers but have not yet made a final choice. He did state, however, that the assessments would be in online mode, adding that Coursera itself would help them with assessments.

Regarding the financial aspects of the programme, Prof. Singh did not elaborate beyond saying that it would definitely be cheaper than offline programs. For the November 2022 cohort, the program is priced at ₹3.1 Lakh for domestic applicants. Foreign applicants would pay either $4000 or $6000 (USD) depending on their geographical location. Most developing countries have to pay the lower fee. He did not remark on scholarship availability, but emphasised on the credit transfer that they were striving to make available to students of the programme.

The Dean then went on to defend the validity of online programmes as opposed to offline ones. Stating that chemical engineers could land IT jobs without a requisite degree, he explained that competency matters more than a formal qualification. Hence, he believes that even having the degree would boost a graduate’s career prospects. ‘Through this program, definitely you are developing your skills much more better way, because in a very structured manner actually you know that these are the courses you are going to do,’ he said. ‘So definitely it will help you.’

Prof. Singh closed the interview by stating that the institute was taking a calm, cautious, and calculated approach to the advent of online learning. He acknowledged that the sector was growing at a rapid pace, but the aim of the institute was to take ‘conscious decisions’ after studying the success and demand of this programme. ‘We go step by step. It’s not that because today online, lot of demand is going to be there, so immediately we will open twenty branch programmes and we will admit everywhere,’ he said. He was pleased to note the progress the government has made in recognizing and allowing online degrees. He said that as regulatory agencies ease restrictions further, more effort could be put into making the program flexible. He concluded with his opinion on how BITS should move forward with online degrees. ‘We have gone for, say, BE, BSc in Computer Science. We will study it in the next three, four years. We will see what is demand, how we should proceed further, and then only we will move forward. But what my personal experience is, this is the area where definitely we should grow in coming times.’