Hemali Chhapia TNN
Mumbai: The gates that lead to an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) are narrow. One needs to elbow out at least 30 others to get beyond the entry point. It’s literally a carnage. And it’s this that stokes the coaching industry. Few take the risk of not going through a gruelingly long training. This year, of the 13,195 who qualified to join IITs, two-thirds said they took professional help to prepare for the entrance test or the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE). What India’s information technology idol Narayana Murthy said about the quality of students joining IITs is echoed by the institutes’ heads. In fact, some directors believe students who get coached and join is much more.
IIT-Madras director Bhaskar Ramamurthi says most students come with a hangover of long years of coaching. “This is an elimination test and there is a limit to what an instrument like an entrance exam can do. But taking school scores into consideration should allow us to get well-rounded students.”
IIT-Guwahati director Gautam Baru points out that the mad dash forces aspirants to start preparing early on. “By the time they join the IIT system, they are mentally fatigued. Many are not even interested in engineering. They want to sell soaps, not become mechanical/chemical engineers.” Barua’s observation is substantiated by placement numbers that show over 50% graduates join managerial positions in consultancy firms, FMCGcompanies and the finance sector, which pay the big bucks.
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