Mass Exodus At IITs: 7248 IITians Dropped Out Of Engineering Courses In 5 Years; What Is The Reason?

This year saw a remarkable move for the IIT council. The council has now increased the fee for M.Tech in IITs by 900%, as a large number of students were dropping out of their Master’s courses from these coveted institutions of the country, by getting into Public Sector Units.

Another such news comes from India’s holy grail of engineering education, the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Information Technology. The Ministry of Human Resource Development revealed that about 7,248 students dropped out of IITs in the last 5 years.

More Than 7000 Students Drop out of IITs

The Ministry of Human Resource Development recently revealed in the Lok Sabha that as many as 7,248 students have been reported to drop out from IITs in the last 5 years, while making a statement about the fact that these institutions allow students for an exit option. This exit option permits students to switch from B.Tech degree to B.Sc after the second semester.

You’d be shocked to realise that this staggering number has been collected only from the 24 IITs in the country, meaning that there might be many more such drop outs from IIITs, as they did not provide any such number. In fact, unlike some of the IITs, the IIITs are very rigid and unsupportive of ideas like providing an exit option to students struggling to cope with academic pressure.

Some time back, the IIT Council left it to the judgements of individual IITs to take a call on the proposed exit option. As a result, the MHRD, at its coordination forum meeting on October 16, approved a proposal authorising the board of governors of the IIITs to decide on the modalities for the implementation of the programme.

IIITs Highly Averse of Letting Students Drop Out

Several IIITs believe that the exit poll is not a viable option to let a student dropout due to reasons like academic pressure or some other reasons, from such premier engineering institutions.

The director of IIIT-Bangalore clearly declared that they do not intend to introduce an exit option since it creates a stigma about the student. Instead, he asks directs them to trust the teachers at these institutes, as they are highly professional and asserts them to know what is best for the student.

IIIT-Hyderabad too denies introducing an exit option. He believes that IIITs closely monitor the performance of all their students, especially the first years. He says that they have mechanisms to provide additional academic assistance right after their first of examinations. As a result, they try their best that no student feels unable to complete their academic requirements.

The ministry of human resource development has said a good job offer is one of the compelling reasons for postgraduate students to quit courses midway.