Education in India- 2011

Before coming on the topic, “Education in India- 2011”, let us talk about some of the general facts of education scenario in India. India has one of the largest numbers of higher education institutions in the world comprising at least 490 universities and 20,769 colleges. Also, there are at least 100 foreign educational institutions in the country, mostly offering programmes that are vocational or technical. Though the figures of these institutions are good yet the quality of education in India remains poor. Some of the graduate skills are so poor they are unemployable. Every year, more than 160,000 students leave Indian shores to study at universities abroad.

Now, let us talk about the scenario of education in India in 2011. Firstly, 2011 saw a little unconventional trend on the part of students in selecting courses. While medicine and engineering ruled above the other educational sectors in 2010, in 2011 it was previously unheard of- professional courses that the students opted to study was different from their peers.

Other tha this, the year of 2011 saw the revival of the importance of subjects from pure science that had completely lost their value. This can also be seen as an achievement of the education sector in the year 2011. The revival has happened due to the growing popularity of engineering and technology studies.

Not only the subjects of science but there was also a rise in the subjects related to humanities and liberal arts. It was Indian Institute of Technology- Madras (IITM) which first introduced a master’s programme in social sciences in the beginning of the year. After that many others followed IITM’s path. It is a good thing that happened in 2011 as a combination of pure sciences and social sciences not only lead to profitable jobs, they also place students in a field where they can extend a hand of benefit to the society.  

2011 was also a year when talent and creativity captured a higher place rather than merits and ranks. Visual communication as a subject of study was encouraged when renowned designer of cars, Dilip Chhabria opened the Center for Automotive Design in the city of Pune.

With these achievements in the education sector in 2011 there are still many things to do in order to improve the education system of India. A very important bill that seeks to allow foreign university campuses in India is still to be tabled in Parliament. The move will open a huge market for both Indian and foreign universities. By the end of the next year, the education pattern followed in India is expected to become more student friendly and oriented towards rare career choices. 

Old IITs vs New IITs

While earlier there were just seven IITs, namely, Kharagpur, Bombay, Delhi, Madras, Kanpur, Roorkee and Guwahati; in 2008, government added eight more IITs to the list, namely, Hyderabad, Ropar, Patna, Gandhinagar, Indore, Bhubaneswar, Mandi and Kota. The institutes were set up with a view to make the access of such institutes of excellence to larger number students. However, the government’s this aim seem to go in vain as these new IITs are really struggling to match up with the excellence of old IITs.

These new IITs are struggling with their classes operating out of makeshift campuses, faculty shortages and unfilled seats. Last year, more than 500 students rejected the admission offer to study in one of these institutes. Many reasons are being drawn for it which vary from not getting one's choice discipline to being hesitant about 'new IITs' and temporary campuses. This rejection from students show that how severely these new IITs are struggling in order to survive among and with the old and reputed IITs.

According to Surendra Prasad, director of IIT-Delhi, “People are suspicious of the effectiveness of the new IITs. The sudden expansion has led to this kind of a situation. However, though the pace could be a little slow, the need for an expansion was always there.”         

As far as the hesitation of parents and students is concerned, Prasad says, “It is important to disseminate information and we are trying our best. What parents and students need to know is that all these new IITs have an established IIT as their mentor. Besides, quality will not be compromised in any of these new institutes. But then in the initial years, the dilemma is likely to persist because one has to choose between an established IIT and a new one. That's a tough choice to make.”

According to Gautam Barua, director of IIT-Guwahati, “There are issues when any new IIT starts. We started out 15 years ago, but when we moved to the campus in 2000, within time, everything had become smooth.”

“The rationale was that some parts of the country don’t have an IIT. There are so many good candidates who don’t get through the JEE (Joint Entrance Examination),” said Bhaskar Ramamurthi, director of IIT-Madras.

The most important point to keep in mind is that these added seats has not reduced the competition at all which means that the demand for an IIT education is as high as ever, despite an array of other options now available. This year, 4.85 lakh students competed for 7563 seats. This means one student had to compete with 63 other students in order to get into an IIT.

Lastly, Pravin Tyagi, director, IITian Space, a coaching institute, says, “I have received good feedback about the new IITs from former students. What they say is that the syllabus remains the same, and only the infrastructure is not at par with the other IITs. That will take time.”What they say is that the syllabus remains the same, and only the infrastructure is not at par with the other IITs. That will take time.”