GATE 2021 UPDATES

IIT Bombay announces GATE 2021 exam schedule. Some major developments seen in the examination pattern

In its press release, IIT Bombay announced the examination schedule for 2021. This is the first time in many years that students will see some major changes in the examination. Find full details on https://gate.iitb.ac.in/.

• For the start, IIT Bombay has updated the eligibility criteria for the GATE examination: ‘a candidate who is currently studying in 3^rd or higher years of any undergraduate degree program OR has already completed any government approved degree program in Engineering / Technology / Architecture / Science / Commerce / Arts‘ is eligible to appear in the examination.
• The candidate can now opt for up to two subject papers (from a prescribed set of combinations) that the exam calendar would permit. This has been done to boost the opportunity to study in inter-disciplinary areas.
• In addition, two more subjects have been added, including : ES (Environmental Science and Engineering) and XH (Humanities and Social Sciences), making the total number of subject papers to 27.

The dates of the examination have been spread out over a longer duration as 5th, 6th, 7th, 12th, 13th and 14th of February 2021. In the previous years GATE examination was conducted on Saturdays and Sundays. In this year there will be examination sessions even on Fridays.

Additions of Humanities courses to the GATE examination may prove to be a boost to the humanities students. Since many PSUs require HR, finance and other support staff from humanities disciplines, some of the PSUs may decide to hire employees through the GATE route. Therefore, it is highly recommended that Humanities Students should also appear in 2021 GATE examination. Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director of IIT Bombay, said, “I am particularly delighted at the creation of much needed new career opportunities for those in the Humanities and Social Sciences area as this may serve as one single standardized criterion for admission to various masters and doctoral programs in various IITs and other universities in India. Should any agency, for example, various PSUs want to hire candidates with Humanities background, this new exam paper in GATE will prove to be a great enabler!”

For geology students it would be interesting to watch which combination of papers would they be allowed to appear in.

Lawrence Kanyan (M-Tech IIT Roorkee)