Golden Nugget - Scrap B Tech Degree in IITs & JEE

As a rule, I listen carefully to people who criticize my line of thinking as these people fuel the mind and make me think harder. Then there are the arm chair pundits who waffle on each and every topic and what they say is most of the time knee jerk reactions to some one else’s efforts. These get ignored and sifted away while looking for the real gold nuggets.

I came across one such nugget of an Idea that was shared by a respected IITB Professor Kannan Moudgalya an IITM Alumnus who shared with me a post Titled

“A New appeoach to Engineering education in the Country”.

Even though Kannan and I cross swords on Aakash (he is for and I am against) I have to say that he has many brilliant ideas to offer, yet he is not in any of the Committees related to IITs like the Acharya Committee, Kakodkars committee or the Ramaswamy committee. There seems to be no room for creative thinkers in such high power committees. Posts are reserved for people willing to play politics perhaps.

Prof Kannan wrote “It has been my argument that so called well wishers of the IIT system are so pigheaded about JEE that they refuse to see the writing on the wall. In view of this, I am not at all surprised about what is happening. I can only say, "I told you so".

Kannan and I are agreed about the fact that poor children can no longer get into the IITs.
"Because the IIT graduates easily get venture funds and because the IIT graduates can command a Rs. 1 crore dowry, etc., children of rich and powerful spend lakhs of money and coach themselves for IITs. Which poor child can afford this? Kannan asks.

For the same reasons quoted above, the children of the rich and powerful do not mind wasting one full year after 12th to prepare exclusively for JEE: more than 50% of the IIT entrants have appeared in JEE more than once. 

Which poor child can forego one full year of gainful employment and study in a tutorial college? Which poor parents can tell their neighbours and friends that their wards are studying in a tutorial college instead of going to the college? asks Kannan

Quoting Prof Kannan “The top notch JEE coaching classes pay more than Rs. 2 crore annual salary to their teachers. These highly talented teachers spend their entire time teaching their rich students how to crack the JEE papers. They crack whatever paper the IIT faculty members sets.

Unlike the teachers of the coaching classes who spend their entire time on cracking the JEE paper, the IIT faculty members spend most of their time in research. It is based on their research output only that the IIT faculty gets promotion. As it is, the alumni are shouting from the roof top that the IITs are not doing well in the research rankings.

Because of these reasons, IITs have become institutions that provide world class education at subsidised rates to the richest sections of the society.                

True, extraordinarily bright poor students can still get into IIT, but at only 20% rate as their corresponding rich bretheren.

This is one of the reasons why I am vehemently opposed to the JEE. IITs are no longer what they used to be when you and I entered IITM. Preserving the JEE will only perpetuate this inequality.

My solution is a lot more egalitarian. We can minimise the damages with time and eventually make the M.Tech brand as good as the B.Tech brand.

I am one of the many pig headed alumnus, that Kanna Refers to, who backs JEE 100%. To scrap JEE would be like cutting off the umblical cord as the baby was developing killing mother and baby. Kill B Techs we will also be Killing IITs.

This was my initial reaction despite the fact that he had a lot of very valid suggestions to address various issues IITs were facing. Scrapping the B Tech Degree at IITs made no sense. In Fact it was Non Sense I thought and I put the thought away. Cutting the nose off to spite the face. No Way.