Alumni speak...

They are proud IIT alumni. Walking in the soft golden autumn light of their lives, these former IITians in various sectors harbour strong but varied opinions on the ‘One nation One test’ proposal.

. The IIT-JEE exam, which like IAS that once tested candidates’ creative approach to applied physical sciences, over the years encourages Pavlovian conditioned students. Considering the degeneration in educational standards, the proposal for doing away has evoked a maelstrom of emotions amongst former IITians. Some responses:

Suresh Srivastava (Ex-President, IIT Delhi alumni batch of late 1960s) from New Delhi:

It is high time that the JEE is done away with and a common exam put in place. Those who are opposing it want to protect their feudal elitist biases. This class is scared that the deprived and depressed sections of society may enter the hallowed portals of applied scientific institutions. At present a major chunk of IIT students are from upper class having all the benefits of institutional coaching. And when they come out, a simple survey would reveal hardly one per cent contributes to technology sector…most of them end up in banks and other financial sectors.

Deepak Sharan (IIT Kanpur alumnus-late 1970s) from Mumbai:

I vehemently oppose the merger. It is sheer rubbish. JEE tests, even though the standard has gone done, should be kept apart. Going by Minister Sibal’s logic, one should also have a common public service commission…why hold IAS and state service commission exams separately? The merger would lead to degeneration and also deprive the students, who at least now have the opportunity to knock on various doors of exams.

Praveen Chaturvedi (IIT Kanpur alumnus) from Mumbai:

Let’s accept that IIT is one of the best managed technical educational institutions in the country. And let’s also accept the stark reality that over the years the IIT entrance exams have gone for a toss. Now if we accept these hypotheses, then the logical outcome would be: more dilution to IIT grads. India has different boards with different norms and yardsticks. How will you assess different gradation in 12th standard as one of the acceptability factor for gaining admission into an institution having a brand across the world?

Praveen Tripathi (IIT Kanpur alumnus) from Mumbai:

My basic premise is simple: Why meddle with things and institutions that are running smoothly and efficiently. I fail to comprehend as to why Sibal does not focus on issues where fixing is required. Take for example the issue of private engineering colleges…not many know that share of private engineering colleges goes beyond the total 75 per cent of engineering graduates. Like the different secondary boards, even JEE and AIEEE were created because of different measuring yardsticks.

Mohan Arora (IIT Alumnus) from Kolkata:

I think Sibal has taken the right step. I fail to comprehend why such a hullabaloo is being made over the proposed merger. At the end of the day, I feel it does not make much difference because, logically…it is a competition wherein the top ranking students would get admission into the preferred institutions such as IIT, which has a brand value. The reason why objection is being raised is because IIT boards are apprehensive about losing their autonomy. But overall, if the scenario is analysed, then this is the first step in doing away with different state boards.

Alumni speak...

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