The IITs and IIMs have been going down the list of the best institutions in the world. We see why.
They say, every cloud has a silver lining.
But there are times when even the sunshine seems tinged by the clouds.
Clearing the IIT JEE is a dream come true for any engineering aspirant in India. Clearing is good, but topping is better.
With a rank you thought is good, it could be quite possible that you don’t end up getting the branch of your choice. This is a situation when you need to decide what matters more to you- the brand or your choice?
The IITs have been established for more than fifty years now. Building India with the production of high quality technical education and human capital has always been their objective. But times have changed and so has the demand for technical education. Though quite a number of IITs have opened up in the past few years, students getting through the JEE and offered admission in the newly established IITs prefer going to other colleges, than naming themselves as a part of the ‘brand’.
An alumni mentions that the IITs and IIMs enjoy substantial academic autonomy but lack in adequate administrative and financial autonomy. Until now, the IIT boards and directors were unable to take any decision regarding any financial matter which they thought was good for the institution, without the approval of government.
We hope that with a change in government, we get to see a change in the reforms as well. In the WRR (World Reputation Ranking) carried out during March this year, only two IITs (IIT Kanpur and IIT Delhi) and IISC Bangalore showed up in the list.
The hype about IITs still continues to rule the typical Indian mentality, but once the candidate are through with the placements, many of them quit their jobs to start something of their own. Taking a look at the engineering education in India, the IITs made up about 10 percent of India’s engineering output. Today, they are less than 2 percent and are declining further.
Breaking the stereotype that students who pass out of IITs and IIMs bag brilliant jobs and pay package, a survey showed that a majority of students prefer joining start ups rather than going for the bandwagon. Start ups like TaxiForSure has taken on 25 management interns for a stipend of Rs 50,000 each. The interns who are mostly from IIM Bangalore and Lucknow have been assigned different critical projects. Apart from getting applications for a full time job, these start ups also get applications for internships.
