Debate over IITs falling standards - TeluguPeople.com News

Hyderabad, Oct 10 (INN): The controversy over rote learning and quality of education in IIT s has taken the nation by storm.

After the controversy over the remarks of Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy over the teaching methodology for IIT in MLC Chukka Ramaiah's coaching centre, the issue took to the national canvas with former Infosys boss NR Narayana Murthy expressing concern over the declining standards of IITians.

It did not stop there either, Heads of many IITs expressed similar opinion and the fall of standards and analysed the various reasons for the situation. IIT directors of various centres said that most of the students took professional help for entering the institutes and many of them were not interested in engineering at all but the subject was forced on them. ( 3 idiots captured this phenomenon well).

The chief minister, while laying foundation stone to IIT -Hyderabad in Medak district said: 'Though the coaching centres had earned ranks in entrance tests, students were made to rote lessons from 4 am to 10 pm every day. I do not like such kind of education system.'

He said these institutions, citing Chukka Ramaiah's coaching centre, do not enhance the knowledge of students but only make them rote lessons.

Reacting sharply to the remarks, Ramaiah said the chief minister had made the remarks at the behest of some corporate colleges which were hell bent on making him give up IIT coaching.

The heat was generated at a time when the Telangana agitation is at its peak and Ramaiah being a protagonist of a separate state.

While the state scene is confined to rote learning (memorizing), the national scene had a wider canvas and the discussing range was wider as to who are the students joining IIT where are they coming from 'background rural, urban or semi-urban and what they are doing after completing the course.

IIT heads of various centres spoke about the mental fatigue, susceptible aptitude and when it comes to placements nearly half of them end up in irrelevant sectors. One comment in common was that IITs are losing their charm. JEE analysis shows that 56 % of the students are from CBSE and 52.55 % are from cities.

After government institutions from school level have yielded ground to private and corporate institutions, teaching methodology has taken a downslide.

Rote learning has become order of the day, thankfully not in majority of the CBSE institutions, and what does a student from VIII standard do learning or churning lessons from 8.00 in the morning to 7.00 in the evening in the name of IIT coaching or special studies or whatever.

It so happens that the student just memorises the entire answer of a simple mathematical equation instead of trying to know the application of the simple formula to get the answer.

It the situation is so pathetic in mathematics itself one can understand how it could be in other subjects. In the name of IIT coaching or passing the eligibility test to Ramaiah's coaching centre, many institutes have sprouted and the fees is exorbitant.

There are other professions as well to live with the opening of the market economy. It is not Engineering or Medicine. This the parents should understand first and the government should crack the whip on advertisements by educational institutions.

They boast of ranks as bait and parents just fall to it. Advertisement and canvassing should be strictly banned for schools, colleges and tutorials. Parents should assess the capabilities of their children and then choose the subjects to get a quality education.

Lastly, students are treated as commodities. This should be treated as a criminal offence and should be enforced strictly and quickly. Rote learning may bring in marks but does not increase the intelligence quotient (IQ) of the student.

A child does not get good marks by studying in a particular institution and marks and ranks is not everything is the bottom line.