Almost 12000 seats are on offer in the 23 IIT’s at the Post Graduate level, besides 16,000 in 31 NITs, 1,000 in IIITs, about 20,000 in the 300 odd Government and aided institutions. About 2000 colleges in the private sector add a further 2 lakh seats. No credible numbers would be available for the private varsities since they increase or decrease the numbers based on market forces, affecting the dynamics of the PG ecosystem.
Filling the available space are either B. Tech students or serving faculty or those sponsored by the industry. The enrolment numbers have been going south over the years because of paucity of jobs at a commensurate level or lack of interest in research. A domicile rule has not helped any. Whatever the reason, the vacancies peaked to more than 50% this year even after barely eligible were considered. The IIT’s lowered their cut-off marks to make 13,542 more undergraduate students eligible lest seats remain vacant, first time since 2013, swelling the merit list from 18,138 to 31000 two and half times the available seats in spite of saner voices expressing concerns of quality, not to speak of the way it would affect the vacancies outside the IIT’s and notwithstanding the concern of the IIT’s on the teacher student ratio currently at 1:15 instead of a desired 1:10.
At present, students pursuing M.Tech and Ph.D in IITs after clearing the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering are paid a scholarship of Rs 12,400 per month and Rs 25,000 per month respectively for the first two years and Rs 28,000 monthly in the next three years for those enrolled in Ph D. This was essentially to promote a research culture in the country which is so essential to innovation, start-ups and productization.
In a move that could decide the fate of research in the country, the council of IITs last month decided to hike the fees of M.Tech programmes nearly 900% or to about Rs 2 lakh annually. As of now, admission and tuition fees for an M.Tech course at IITs range between Rs 5,000 to over Rs 10,000 per semester and a little more in government and government aided institutions. Further the IITs will also stop the monthly scholarship.
Is an almost ten-fold increase in tuition fees called for? Will this move not be repeated across the other institutions in the government sector in the country? Will this not trigger a spike in tuition fees across the privately owned institutions? To be fair the proposal also calls for ensuring funds to needy students and for the government to arrange educational loans. Will this move actually dissuade students from enrolling for Post Graduate courses? A country that is anyway low on its research quotient will be hit by a further spike in vacancies.
Several reasons are cited for the dwindling numbers of the PG programs. A lack of effort on the part of faculty to infuse interest among the students, to believing the course content to be theoretical and lacking in application and clichéd teaching methodologies. In fact a survey among students proposed returning teaching to blackboard since they believed showing slides does not ensure value-addition.
It may be true that the faculty is hard pressed in the dual roles they perform: teach and research. Given the stress the system has on research, it is not surprising that the teachers have given a go by to teaching. Both teaching and research are fulltime jobs and an increased focus on one would impact the other though it is equally true that one would supplement the other.
The government must first put a robust system in place that ensures, no needy and meritorious student drops out because he or she can’t afford the fees and then probably hike the fees. Else, we could see hikes implemented, but the needy left to fend for themselves. Teaching assistantships would certainly partly fund the studies but then this has to be weighed against the downturn in the teaching learning process at the undergraduate level.
An argument for the hike is that the dropout rate would reduce, since only the serious would join as is the case with management programs. Unlike managerial skills helping an upward mobility in the administrative domain, the competency based technical skills may not do so. A hike may also be justified when markets demand upskilling or reskilling to remain in employment. However, in a scenario where the employment markets prefer graduates who could be trained, to employing post graduates, who also have to be trained, in addition to paying higher salaries, the outcome could see students withdrawing completely, affecting research in the country. Those in teaching would be more driven by a compulsion rather than add any value to the research quotient in the country. The move may even trigger a wave of commercialisation.
A Tenure Track System sought to be introduced, is where young researchers are selected through an impartial and transparent screening process, go through a review as independent researchers, employed in official job positions, prior to obtaining a permanent position. However, the sword of performance will hang during the tenure. Often pervading ecosystems decide whether such proposals yield results. In the west they often do, for the young researchers have a strong connect with the industry through their peers.
An important decision taken to boost research is allowing B.Tech pass outs to enrol for a Ph.D, deviating from the conventional practice of permitting only postgraduates. The Prime Minister’s fellowship of Rs 60,000 a month for five years though a trifle low, may help but will have to be followed up with changes in recruitment rules. In a country where any successful model is replicated across the system till it loses its value and charm, the consequences can be debilitating.
Changes proposed within the IIT system tend to percolate down the rest of the system outside it. If the best practises do so, it is to be welcomed. However, systems as prevalent in the IIT’s may not necessarily bring value to the system outside it, since functionally the models are very different. Models of quality need to be time tested before institutionalising them. Boundary conditions are so different that they seldom give the same results.