"The drop-outs are continuing warning signs of a deeper decay."
22/08/2016 11:46 AM IST | Updated August 22, 2016 12:17
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IITs and IIMs are the most difficult educational institutions in India to get in, but over the last few years it turns out that they are also quite easy to leave.
Last year, the then Human Resources Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani had said that about 2000 students had left the IITs without completing their courses between 2012 and 2015; on Sunday, The Times of India reported that the trend continued during 2014-2016 too.
The only difference this time is that the IIMs too have been added to the list. Reportedly about 2000 students in IITs and IIMs didn't finish their courses during 2014-16.
Some of the numbers may have overlapped because of the overlapping years, however, the critical point is that IITs, which have the highest entry-barriers for engineering education in the country, are unable to retain all the students that they admit because all of the latter are not able to cope with the academic rigour expected of them. The situation, although at a lower scale because the overall numbers are lower, is similar with the IIMs too.
So, it's time to raise the all-important question once again - why does this happen, particularly when IITs and IIMs are India's best gateways to highly rewarding professional careers?
The IITs or the HRD ministry is yet to come out with disaggregated data on the drop-outs; but, past evidence points to the most obvious: students are unable to cope with the demands of education in these institutions. There are two obvious reasons - one, not all the students who crack the joint entrance examinations are good enough to study in these institutions; and two, those who gain entry through reservations find the standards too high to cope with.
