This move has brought the normally-docile community of IIT students to arms, albeit on Facebook, poking fun at Mr. Sibal on the one hand and espousing the importance of a strong and challenging entrance exam for the IITs on the other. On the face of it, these demands seem to be legitimate expressions of concern for institutions - the IITs - that have been long-considered the pinnacle of Indian education.
However, when you look deep into these demands, that facade evaporates quickly. What does a qualifying JEE mark represent today? Hard work? Definitely. Talent? Yes. Exceptional aptitude? Hold on there! The fact of the matter is that the IITs have produced more non-technical wonders than engineers for decades now. A common refrain from IIT faculty and academia is that the current standard of students leaves much to beg for.
But also consider an even bigger issue - IITJEE is not just an exam. It is an industry valued, according to one study, at Rs.10,000 cr. Entire generations have grown up attending the so-called foundation courses (which basically teach you syllabus from next year). Parents spend a small fortune on IITJEE education. Today, qualifying in the JEE is not simply about how intelligent you are - it also depends on how much money you have. That's why you see so many IITians migrating to management - because it is now entirely about the money. An IIT degree hardly means technical competence anymore. Indeed, it is quickly becoming an indicator of incompetence.
But why do IIT students, who have already been there and done that, so vociferously support the JEE? It's mainly because of the brand factor: most students at IIT waste their four years doing nothing more than playing video games and sleeping. It is shocking to see such bright minds struggle to understand what are actually very simple concepts of Physics, Maths and Chemistry when they actually managed to grasp far more complicated things for JEE. To see high-ranking JEE qualified students at the very bottom of their class, unable to understand the most basic of technical matters, is indeed disappointing.
It is also this very group that most strongly vouches for the JEE. Because for a vast majority of students, it remains, after four years at IIT, the only real achievement worth talking about in their lives. It allows them to demand a sort of cult-status, although inside IIT they are actually very far from that.
The combining of JEE with AIEEE and other exams will not lower standards at IIT. Education here does not require super-human intelligence. Sincerity and commitment are quite enough.
1 comments:
"most students at IIT waste their four years doing nothing more than playing video games and sleeping"
I Don't understand the relevance of the above text to the article, and given the freedom its up to an individual to decide whats right and whats wrong for him and it need not be an IITian. and you've generalised by saying "most"...not everybody does it at the IIT's. Speaking about the money, I've gone thru your profile - Civil - 2013 batch - what do you think is the number of core companies that come to campus to recruit and have they ever been unattended?? and half the people take a "job" rather than choosing a "career" out of desperateness and most of the profiles happen to be those of management and IT...I'd be glad if you justify the fact that given the current strength of the IIT's, not every individual can have a Core job-
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