tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post8447366202671465267..comments2024-03-29T11:45:43.197+05:30Comments on Musings of Dheeraj Sanghi: Should we open new IITsDheeraj Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06367519409840642182noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-39296690389058122632014-08-24T01:53:24.996+05:302014-08-24T01:53:24.996+05:30Dear Prof. Sanghi
This is one of the most even-ha...Dear Prof. Sanghi<br /><br />This is one of the most even-handed articles I have across on this specific issue and state of higher education in India.<br /><br />Thanks for articulating all the important issues in simple language which can be understood by anybody with a modicum of English skills. These are the same points I try to articulate with my friends who argue for one or the other extreme but never get through for whatever reasons.<br /><br />Now I will direct them to this article of yours as a starting point and ask them to reflect on it themselves and work towards a an equitable education system in India that encourages children to pursue studies/higher education which match not only their passion but also their talent and capability. Mismatch in any of the pairs will not only lead to disappointment all around but the societal investment is wasted as well.Anil Joshihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14400555692323623064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-50828374357588180082014-07-17T01:21:53.559+05:302014-07-17T01:21:53.559+05:30There is a major discussion on this issue on the q...There is a major discussion on this issue on the question - answer site quora.com. I have posted links to your blog and comments on quora, to make the public aware of facts..Himanshu Shekharhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16476285397736332627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-47515629445266874002014-07-14T21:21:30.968+05:302014-07-14T21:21:30.968+05:301. There is a lot of negative publicity in the med...1. There is a lot of negative publicity in the media about the new IITs. Most of it based on a poor understanding of the education system and there is too much reliance on hearsay. <br />a) Let me first point out something about the "shortage of faculty" which apparently is a problem even for the "old IITs". There is a shortage if you compare the actual number of faculty with the MAXIMUM number that an IIT is allowed to hire. This number is based on a 10:1 student to faculty ratio. Now, if this ratio is 15:1, what does this imply? Yes, it implies that more faculty can be hired by the Institute. But does this necessarily imply a shortage? And shortage for doing what? Most media people (and the parliament) are only concerned about the teaching programmes and that too the B.Tech programmes. UG Teaching can be easily handled with a ratio of 20:1, but the media folks are ignorant about this. So what does an IIT lose if its ratio is 15:1 rather than 10:1? It basically loses research time, as the teaching programmes are fixed and can be easily handled. Now while this is not a good thing, will it affect the placement prospects of the B.Techs? Definitely not, as the teaching part is being easily handled.<br />b) An IIT cannot reach its full potential and cannot build its research facilities fully till it moves to campus. None of the 8 new IITs except IIT Mandi have moved to their campuses so they are definitely handicapped as far as research is concerned. But the situation will change dramatically once they move to their campuses and space is no longer a crunch. I can speak with authority based on my experience with IIT Guwahati. IITG's progress graph started going up rapidly after it moved to campus in 2000, and it took off even further from 2003 or so after all the lab facilities were established on campus. See the publication record per faculty for corroboration. The same will happen to all the new IITs. Yes, delay in handing over land is the major reason why their campus movement has been delayed. No Institute should start operations without land in its possession. This was a mistake of the Govt in the case of the new IITs.<br />2. Regarding the IIT Council becoming too big, there is a Standing Committee of the Council with a subset of the Directors and Chairmen as members which considers many of the policy matters first.<br />3. New IITs must be given land which is not very from an airport. It should not also be very far from the city centre they are in. Location is more important that land area.gautam baruahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00395342178251076987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-21544550588713154522014-07-11T16:14:57.591+05:302014-07-11T16:14:57.591+05:30Sir! I think most of the central and state gov own...Sir! I think most of the central and state gov owned institutions are equally bad. Because these have hardly on profit line. Theses are all for collection the money from 1000 people and provide them to 10 people. Obviously those 10 people will be happy. What about others? The old IITs like of institutions earns how much percentage of their spending, hardly 10-20% of their spending. The ideas sholud be that to provide land by goverment and rest other management should be privatized. If say some IIT X is having 400cr rs loss on gov. excheques. Let IIT-X take 20 lakh per anum per student. And let them manage the talents, teaching level etc. Isn't govt. land a huge investment iself on IITs. Why to uplift always by providing more fund to some IIT-X and that they always show their competetion to say some Indian XYZ-university, which get hardly funds for lab modernization. actually competetion is very less for IIT-X. So I think if people at IIT-X abdicates their saturation, which comes very early in case of IIT-X, there will no bound for expansion, reputation and qualit etc. After all individual IIT is that IIT. There should not be any correlation with non performing one.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11897670289422153070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-62538762635705844942014-07-11T16:13:30.970+05:302014-07-11T16:13:30.970+05:30Sir! I think most of the central and state gov own...Sir! I think most of the central and state gov owned institutions are equally bad. Because these have hardly on profit line. Theses are all for collection the money from 1000 people and provide them to 10 people. Obviously those 10 people will be happy. What about others? The old IITs like of institutions earns how much percentage of their spending, hardly 10-20% of their spending. The ideas sholud be that to provide land by goverment and rest other management should be privatized. If say some IIT X is having 400cr rs loss on gov. excheques. Let IIT-X take 20 lakh per anum per student. And let them manage the talents, teaching level etc. Isn't govt. land a huge investment iself on IITs. Why to uplift always by providing more fund to some IIT-X and that they always show their competetion to say some Indian XYZ-university, which get hardly funds for lab modernization. actually competetion is very less for IIT-X. So I think if people at IIT-X abdicates their saturation, which comes very early in case of IIT-X, there will no bound for expansion, reputation and qualit etc. After all individual IIT is that IIT. There should not be any correlation with non performing one.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11897670289422153070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-4776869067251636492014-07-07T17:16:38.639+05:302014-07-07T17:16:38.639+05:30Dear Dr. Sanghi,
Thanks for this post. Among the ...Dear Dr. Sanghi,<br /><br />Thanks for this post. Among the public there are several misconceptions about the new IITs and IITs in general. For example, most people see the news about faculty shortage, and infer that no one wants to be a faculty at IITs! On the other hand, hundreds of applications are received for each position that is open. I think you should pen a blog addressing the issue of new IITs and other pressing issues in a leading Daily such as The Hindu, which will help reach and educate a wider audience.Himanshu Shekharhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16476285397736332627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-84425818646557178812014-07-04T01:30:50.627+05:302014-07-04T01:30:50.627+05:30I can not agree more with the post. It covers most...I can not agree more with the post. It covers most of the points. Elitism was the well defined reason. I also agree one IIT per year is reasonable. Thanks for the post.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13976352311532148863noreply@blogger.com