BITS Pilani’s ‘Zero Attendance Policy’ Has a Lesson for All Indian Universities

Several Indian universities have been giving a year off to students interested in building startups. Leading institutes, including BITS Pilani, IIT Madras, IIT Hyderabad, DIT University, IIT Bombay and IIT Kharagpur, have incorporated this initiative. These ‘temporary withdrawal programmes’ allow students to take a break from their academic studies and pursue their entrepreneurial calling.  BITS Pilani takes it to another level. The ‘zero attendance policy’, which means exactly what it sounds like, doesn’t require students to attend lectures. Their evaluation is done entirely on the basis of examinations and continuous assessments done during the semester. This, according to the university, pushes a lot of students to pursue entrepreneurial paths and build startups for th