The IITs were formed by an Act of Parliament in 1950
on the recommendations of the SARKAR Committee Report. The objective of the
IITs was to produce highly-skilled technocrats, researchers and innovators who
would spearhead the technological developments of our nation. By 1961, 5 IITs
were established at Kharagpur, Mumbai, Chennai, Kanpur and Delhi and admissions
were granted on the basis of an Entrance exam called IIT-JEE from 1960. By
2015, there are 19 IITs in India.
The IITs have an alumni base of over 2 lacs as in 2015
whose impact on the nation and the globe is momentous. Though a majority of
IITians have secured a stable career path with a good job in a large private or
Govt. company, a remarkable number of IITians have excelled as Entrepreneurs,
Innovators, Researchers, Civil Servants and change agents.
The Pan-IIT Alumni report 2008 prepared by Zinnov
Management Consulting suggests that IITians have been involved in the creation
of 2 crore new jobs globally which means almost 100 new jobs creation per
IITian. For every rupee invested by the
Govt. of India on an IITian, the payback has been Rs.15. The Report further
discovered that 7 out of every 10 IITians are working in India, that 54% of the
Top 500 Indian companies have at least one IITian on their Board of Directors,
and 4 out of every 10 IITians are in top leadership roles in organizations
across various fields. The Report also estimated that Rs.20 lakh crore of
incremental economic value creation has been effected by IITians till 2008
across the globe. No other college in India
can boast of having such a profound impact on society at large.
However, it is also true that most of the best brains
amongst IIT alumni (especially Top 300 IIT-JEE Rankers) are not in India. Brain-drain
has been a matter of concern for long but has been blindsided by successive
governments.
Though the economic and social impact of IITians is
immense, the research output of the IITs and IITians working in India is far
from satisfactory. In the period between 2001-2014, the number of patent
applications assigned to IITs were 127 as against 2155 to MIT-US. IITs do not
figure even in the Top 200 in the global rankings of Universities published by
Times & QS every year mainly due to its dismal research record. Brain drain
is not the only reason for this phenomenon though. The IITs are lagging behind premier Western
universities in terms of funding available from the Government for research,
the enabling atmosphere for Research & Innovation and the
performance-oriented system for faculties.
Thus, IITs have been immensely successful as educational institutions though
not so much as research institutions
till date.
It must be clearly understood however why IITs have
been successful as educational institutions. The open secret is the Entrance
exam viz. JEE. It is because of the high quality of students that enter the
IITs that has made the IITs world-famous. The JEE is the toughest Entrance exam
in the world with barely 2% selection ratio and challenging questions which
test the problems solving ability of the candidate. Thus, Brand IIT is simply
due to Brand JEE.
Students preparing for JEE have a far superior grip on
basic concepts of Maths and Science as compared to those students who simply
study for XII Boards only or State-level CETs. After studying for JEE, even if
the student does not get admission into the IITs but enters a local Engineering
college, he finds Engineering studies easy and sails smoothly to complete his
degree and greatly increases his employability. This is not the case with a
student who merely studies for XII Boards exams which is mostly based on rote
learning and thus such a student struggles in throughout his Engineering
studies. So, right selection of students has been the key to success of the
IITs as educational institutes.
It is true that a number of steps must be taken up by
the IITs and the Govt. to boost the research output of the IITs. The following
steps may be recommended :
1)
Make the JEE exam Subjective-pattern type with pre-exam declared
cut-offs for all categories as was the case from 1960 till 2005 so that only
the most deserving students get in.
2)
Choice of branch of Engineering must be done after 2-years of
B.Tech. program and not merely on the basis of JEE Ranks. The first 2-years
course must be inter-disciplinary which helps the student to know about various
fields. Only choice of IITs must be based on JEE Ranks.
3)
A Tenure system for faculties as in US universities must be
introduced wherein faculties are evaluated every 7 years by peers in academia
on basis of their performance in teaching, research and service to the field.
At the same time, the salaries of IIT Faculty must be increased to match those
of premier US universities. Faculties must be given a fair stake in the revenue
generated for IITs via consultation projects with industry.
4)
Launch an 8-years (B.Tech. + Direct Ph.D.) program with no exit
option in between. The choice of this program should be done after 2-years when
branch selection has to be done. Once, faculty are assured that students are
committed with them for longer period, the faculty-student duo can do serious
research work. Those students who are not keen on pursuing Research may opt for
the regular 4-years B.Tech. or 5-years Dual Degree M.Tech. program. Such
students can be encouraged to take up entrepreneurship towards which the IITs
have already set up incubation cells. IIT Faculty may however be stingy in giving
recommendation letters to students who wish to do M.S. abroad.
5)
Funding and autonomy both must be given amply to the IITs by the
Govt. to create a healthy research atmosphere in the IITs.
6)
Increased partnership with industry must be fostered.
If the above steps are implemented, IITs will emerge
as premier colleges on the global stage fostering world-class research and
education both.
- Durgesh C.Mangeshkar
(Director, IITian’s
Prashikshan Kendra, Pune)
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