Was not that bad when I was growing up. Sure there was pressure to become engineer/doctor but IIT was not be-all end-all. There was always DCE, REC. Have things changed that much in last 20 years?
IIT gives you a lot of name recognition and opens up many doors automatically. As someone who didn’t get in, I missed out on foreign internships and research opportunities by not attending them. The universities you mention are still great but don’t have the same recognition I guess. Every foreign grad students first question after learning Im from India “ oh did you go to... IIT?”
Unpopular opinion: this is not the way engineering should be taught, to ace a stupid test. I understand these are economically underprivileged kids and I wish them best, but I would really love it if someone followed up on where they end up after graduation.
I’m hoping that as the economy develops further, the need to go to such extremes will diminish and folks can pursue their true calling.
No criteria. I think the problem is with the low number of seats available. A similar quality of education can be made available at a much larger scale if the country is so motivated. It's understandable that not all branches of engineering at other universities can acquire the kind of funding that IITs have. Apart from some specialized lab equipment, there is no technical reason all universities can't offer a comparable quality of education all over India. There are only bureaucratic reasons.
Taxpayer money shouldn't be spent in funding such competition.
While education systems in west are focused towards collaboration, Indian education system makes them compete against each other like wild dogs.
When will India understand, it's not about competition but collaboration.
We can argue this system creates very few winners and a lot of people feel like losers in this system.
If they made them feel better, they can increase their net education output which would be far better than showcasing any specific rank or endorsing any specific brand like IIT.
that's a cynical view. Capitalism is the freedom to buy and sell from whoever you choose. If what you choose to sell is something so unique, you'll escape competition.
Oh no, if you want the cynical view of capitalism it's that the already rich create a rigged system in which they are able to exert disproportionate influence on the government and regulators that affect their ability to create and preserve their own wealth. They then use this influence to push weaker competitors out of the marketplace, eventually creating a single monopoly on an industry. Allowed to go to its conclusion, you replace political empires with financial rule.
That's just the short version. "free for all" is actually the optimistic view in my opinion. At least in a "free for all" metaphor you have the assumption of equal standing and "the strongest" winning.
> While education systems in west are focused towards collaboration, Indian education system makes them compete against each other like wild dogs.
P.S.: the "competition" is just for entrance to these premier Indian colleges. I guess, the same would hold true if you want to enter prestigious U.S. colleges like Stanford, Harvard, Yale, or any other Ivy League colleges. Of course, in India, the number of students applying is vastly different, which is what makes it super competitive.
In my opinion that's what also happens with entry to top class institutions like Stanford, MIT, Caltech etc.
Competition for better schooling is everywhere weather it is for the Grammar Schools of the UK or Gymnasium School of Germany. I have seen parents preparing their kids for Grammar School right after they leave Kindergarden age.
I for one hope that education moves online completely. In india, the education sector cannot meet the demand and as a result it's filled with meaningless tests.
Entrance exam culture is biggest bullshit of the century India facing. On one hand college dropout are starting startups and disciplined intelligence thrown in to mindless clerical works, ultimately proving first idea works better than the second.
Why target only IITians, even non-IITians migrate in large numbers. Also, they are not 100% to blame for this, if you foster a good environment nobody will leave. Everyone is to be blamed.
IITians are demi gods in India. This status puts a lot of pressure on student at a young age to crack this entrance. So much so, that there are regular cases of students committing suicide due to the pressure from society and family.
For many who don't know, there are coaching classes where preparation for the exam is begun as early as the 5th or 6th grade.
It took me 2 years to get over the failure of not getting into IIT. It's a really messed up situation.
I really hope parents understand the situation and stop traumatizing their kids.
For a lot of kids its the only way out of the hood. Especially these kids in super 30. If they don't make it its back to poverty. If they get in they have the ability change their entire families socioeconomic status including parents and siblings. Its like pro athletes or rappers trying to get out of the hood. Its hard to do.
It's ok to say that cracking the entrance exam is going to give them a great platform on which they can build their future.
But telling a 16 year old to clear it believing it's a matter of life and death . That has to be one of the biggest failure of the parents/society/educational system.
I really hope that Internet education reaches a stage where no one has to face such a situation.
Being one of those failed students, I would like to tell any one who is trying to clear the exam and reading this. Try your best, it's ok if you don't clear.
If you persist and keep working hard with whatever you have, you will do wonders.(Ignore people who say otherwise).
Indian education system is completely messed up. It destroys any trace of passion, curiosity, or thinking different. What the world needs more of isn't competent bureaucrats (which IIT produces a lot of), it is people who are creative, passionate, and courageous. I hope to god we never import the Asian exam mentality to the us.
Related to this, check out Dakshana (https://dakshana.org/ ). They're a very well run charity with great metrics, and their Annual Reports are interesting reading.
On a personal note the brand IIT has helped me in making me what I am (whatever that be). Even though I did not make it to IIT, the aspiration to get into IIT made me push myself to my limits. The preparation to get in helped me in getting top score in my state engineering exam allowing me to gain admission to the “best” engineering college of my state. That led to easy job placements, getting selected for lead role ( my manager actually said that he selected me just by the Engineering school I graduated from.. He was happy so I guess I didn’t do too bad on real life performance parameters) and getting accepted for research based masters by prof who knew about the college.
So coming back to the point, the IITs inspire you to dream and be ambitious and bold. I think for that matter alone, the premium value of the brand needs to be preserved. It has helped people from small towns like mine, where people don't know the difference between IIT and ITI, to aim high.
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[ 12.9 ms ] story [ 119 ms ] threadWow, a lead that just begs the reader to stop.
Its a way to use as filters at later stage of life. Job or marriage (see iitiimshaadi.com). Top 2% or top 10%.
I’m hoping that as the economy develops further, the need to go to such extremes will diminish and folks can pursue their true calling.
Considering that nearly 100K students give the exam, what criteria will work best to select 5K students for available seats?
No.of seats available are 12-13k. That's nearly 1.3%.
There you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSwi3RcVBzw
It is mostly big banks, big and medium IT companies.
If everything goes as planned, it will be implemented by 2030.
While education systems in west are focused towards collaboration, Indian education system makes them compete against each other like wild dogs.
When will India understand, it's not about competition but collaboration.
We can argue this system creates very few winners and a lot of people feel like losers in this system.
If they made them feel better, they can increase their net education output which would be far better than showcasing any specific rank or endorsing any specific brand like IIT.
Citation needed. Capitalism is basically "free for all competition" in a nutshell.
That's just the short version. "free for all" is actually the optimistic view in my opinion. At least in a "free for all" metaphor you have the assumption of equal standing and "the strongest" winning.
P.S.: the "competition" is just for entrance to these premier Indian colleges. I guess, the same would hold true if you want to enter prestigious U.S. colleges like Stanford, Harvard, Yale, or any other Ivy League colleges. Of course, in India, the number of students applying is vastly different, which is what makes it super competitive.
Competition for better schooling is everywhere weather it is for the Grammar Schools of the UK or Gymnasium School of Germany. I have seen parents preparing their kids for Grammar School right after they leave Kindergarden age.
Nit: "super 30" is not about teaching engineering. That begins after the said exam.
Why target only IITians, even non-IITians migrate in large numbers. Also, they are not 100% to blame for this, if you foster a good environment nobody will leave. Everyone is to be blamed.
I would disagree. It is also our responsibility as a citizen to stay and help create a better environment.
It has English subtitles.
For many who don't know, there are coaching classes where preparation for the exam is begun as early as the 5th or 6th grade.
It took me 2 years to get over the failure of not getting into IIT. It's a really messed up situation. I really hope parents understand the situation and stop traumatizing their kids.
To a lot of kids it is a life or death situation.
It's ok to say that cracking the entrance exam is going to give them a great platform on which they can build their future.
But telling a 16 year old to clear it believing it's a matter of life and death . That has to be one of the biggest failure of the parents/society/educational system.
I really hope that Internet education reaches a stage where no one has to face such a situation. Being one of those failed students, I would like to tell any one who is trying to clear the exam and reading this. Try your best, it's ok if you don't clear. If you persist and keep working hard with whatever you have, you will do wonders.(Ignore people who say otherwise).
So coming back to the point, the IITs inspire you to dream and be ambitious and bold. I think for that matter alone, the premium value of the brand needs to be preserved. It has helped people from small towns like mine, where people don't know the difference between IIT and ITI, to aim high.