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No life, no hobbies, burnout, lost childhood — the price students pay for a prized IIT seat

Last year, 1.5 million students took the JEE to qualify for 13,000 seats in 23 IITs across the country – in other words, for each seat there were 115 aspirants.

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New Delhi: They are the country’s premier engineering institutes and getting into them is internationally considered more difficult than admission into Princeton, America’s Ivy League university.

Last year, 1.5 million students took the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) to qualify for 13,000 seats in 23 IITs across the country — in other words, for each seat there were 115 aspirants.

So intense is the pressure and so gruelling is the preparation required that students as young as 14 start the process, often missing out on the simple joys of adolescence. Most give up extra-curricular activities, relationships with friends and peers, and all forms of entertainment to achieve the goal. By the time they achieve their aim, if they do, many realise they have lost out on social skills, ability to communicate easily with others (an attribute now known as soft skills), and of course, some part of their youth.

An IIT Delhi professor who has been teaching for the last two decades underlines this reality, saying when students come to them after two or three years of prep, they don’t even know how to behave socially.

“They have been cut off from society, they are unaware of current affairs, and are desperately in need of our induction programme for freshers where we try to re-orient them to society and the institute,” the professor said on the condition of anonymity.

This skill gap haunts them even when they graduate. Despite all the hard work engineering students put in, a survey conducted in 2019 found that 80 per cent of engineers “are not fit for any job in the knowledge economy and only 2.5 per cent of them possess technical skills in Artificial Intelligence (AI) that industry requires”. The skill gap between what they learn and what is required of them in their workspaces makes them unemployable. 

Yet, in India’s shortage economy, where everything of value is kept in limited supply, there is no end to this annual exercise of competing in the JEE.

Like a 23-year-old machine learning engineer based out of Florida, who started his JEE preparation as early as Class 8, because his peers had started as early as Class 6. The engineer says he was so engrossed in his prep that he ignored basics such as good hygiene, good grooming, or even making friends.

“It took me an entire gap year before undergraduation to recognise and overcome these shortcomings,” he now says.

Or 29-year-old Shivam Narang, now working as a procurement manager with a prominent firm in Mumbai, who spent three years preparing for JEE. An “above average student”, he had to work 12-14 hours a day to crack one of the toughest exams in the world, making him lose out on much of his teenage years.

A basketball player in high school, Narang had to quit the sport after Class 10, once he started preparing for the engineering entrance, moving to Kota from Delhi, the coaching college magnet for all IIT aspirants.

“There is no room for hobbies – even playing your favourite sport for 30 minutes comes with a feeling of guilt,” Narang says. “Add to that the shift to an alien city with a competitive environment, which is so difficult to adjust to.”

The constant pressure and fear of losing out led him to leave Kota. He took a break and took admission into a National Institute of Technology (NIT).

“The loss of my values is what affected me the most. I am still very competitive and don’t feel comfortable working in a team. My personality changed, as did my body. I gained 35 kilos in a matter of months and my weight went up to 120 kilos,” Narang remembers.


Also Read: 443 Delhi students committed suicide in 5 yrs, exam stress & failed relationships to blame


School, coaching, weekly exams

Some students such as Narang start preparing for the JEE at the age of 16, but others start as early as 12. These students, along with attending regular school, also go to coaching sessions and take weekly examinations. In the routine of coaching, school and tests, students claim that they miss out on important life skills, networking and overall personality development.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical college admission, which has become a political hot potato in Tamil Nadu, so much so that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has promised to scrap it, is only marginally less difficult. In 2020, more than 1.5 million students appeared for it, a 15 per cent rise from the number of applicants in 2018. 

Of them, under 800,000 students were able to qualify for one of the 82,026 seats at 541 medical colleges across the country. After the introduction of the examination in 2017, several students committed suicide after failing to clear it.  

The DMK has promised to do away with the examination and put back in place the previous system of admission to medical colleges in the state, based on results of the state Class 12 board exam. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), meanwhile, has offered to provide additional training to NEET aspirants.   

According to coaching institutes, an average student spends 16 hours a week attending these extra classes, in addition to their regular school and studies. The annual financial cost of attending these sessions goes up to Rs 2 lakh.

Pragya Bhardwaj, 35, who now practises as a gynaecologist in Bengaluru, took a three-year break after school to prepare for her medical entrance test.  

“I could not get an MBBS seat in the first attempt and it required two more attempts. Finally, after the third attempt, I got a seat in a reputed medical college in Karnataka. But the journey to get there was gruelling and took a toll on my personality, my health, mental well-being and social connections, almost everything,” Bhardwaj recalls.

Students are allowed two attempts at JEE, but there is no cap for the number of NEET attempts — there is, however, an age bar of 25. 

The problem is not individual but systemic. As Dr Soumitra Pathare, director of the Pune-based Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy, puts it: “If you create a scarcity for something and push young students to try and get that scarce product in a restricted environment, it is bound to affect them mentally.

“Premier institutes in our country have an admission rate of about 0.1 per cent, so what kind of outcome can you expect? No matter how resilient an individual is, when the system is rigged against them, it is criminal when the individual breaks down.”  

Parents go to the extent of disconnecting their children from the outer world to “help them focus”. Activities such as watching television, surfing the Internet, and participating in social events, sports and hobbies are placed at the bottom of the list of priorities. Shweta Garg, 50, a homemaker based out of Ahmedabad, says the two years her son spent preparing for the JEE meant the entire family put a pause on normal life.  

“Those two years were not only difficult for my son but for the entire family as well. To ensure that he was able to focus on boards and competitive exams, we removed the cable connection so that there were zero disturbances for him. Family vacations and social events were given a skip and a serious environment was created in the house,” she told ThePrint.  

Yet, her son was unable to make it to an IIT. Garg sidesteps that, saying she thinks her son matured during the period. Although he missed meeting his friends and cousins, he knew he had to prioritise.  


Also Read: IIT-Hyderabad students blame isolated campus and academic pressure for suicides


The role of coaching classes

Coaching institutes make things worse for aspirants. Kishore Kumar, an IIT Kharagpur alumnus based out of Delhi, who has been coaching JEE and NEET students for the past 11 years, says the institutes create an atmosphere where students are divided into batches based on their performance.

If a student spends five years training in a ‘low-performing’ batch, it conditions the child to not think of himself/herself beyond a low-performing student. He/she will then hesitate to take part in group activities or anything else to assist his/her personality growth.

Anand Kumar of ‘Super 30’ fame says he ensures the focus of his students is on enhancing their creativity so that they don’t become another cog in the wheel.

“Most of my students are from rural backgrounds with poor financial stability,” he said. “Whoever shows a flair for scientific learning turns up for coaching. My focus largely remains on enhancing the ability of students to grasp concepts. They need to learn about real-life applications of their studies to ensure success even after getting into an IIT.”

Speaking about the types of skills he imparts, Kumar said, “Instead of just going by textbook examples, I try to relate the concepts with their real life situations. This helps students understand things better. I also need to prepare them for a massive shift, from a rural setting to a college, and then a formal workplace. To do so, we pick examples of world leaders with humble beginnings and read from their biographies.”

Of the 510 students he has trained over 19 years, 410 have got into IITs, NITs and other notable engineering colleges.   

Some experts even question the necessity of coaching classes. Meeta Sengupta, founder of the Centre for Education Strategy, a Delhi-based think tank dealing in education policy issues, said: “Although experts say that coaching helps students take the exams, it is not healthy for children. They lose the space for discovery and innovation during the course of such training.” 

Several students, because of the lack of an outlet and no mindspace for anything other than studies, experience a burnout by the time they reach a university. This leads to several mental health problems.

A mental health expert with an IIT, who chose to remain anonymous, said, “The most common problem among IIT students, who have all their lives been seen as high achievers, is the sense of a vacuum. It can also be called an ‘existential crisis’. After years of rigorous training, students start searching for a deeper meaning in life. This can either happen because of anxiety issues or depression, or exacerbate them as well.” 


Also Read: ‘We didn’t do enough’ — AIIMS faculty and students say after suicides by doctors


(This report has been updated to accurately reflect that last year 1.5 million students took the JEE to qualify for 13,000 seats in 23 IITs across the country – and for each seat there were 115 aspirants, not 1,000. The error is regretted.)

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282 COMMENTS

  1. There has been a lot of debate for some time about the stress students go through to get into IITs. They have to go through grueling 2-3 years of preparation atleast to be able to qualify for a seat in an IIT. But what nobody has spoken about is the need of the coaching institutes and why the students have to put so much efforts during their preparation. JEE does not expect students to know rocket science. The questions are based on the syllabus which is taught till the senior secondary level. The problem is that almost all the schools fail to teach the way they are supposed to. Most of the students get high percentage in their senior secondary exams not because they know everything but because they were having exam centric preparation. The problem with our education system is that it is grades based and not knowledge based. Untill we can address this, the students will have to keep going through this peril.

  2. I am not sure why so much of fuss for youth youth studying. Of course children should not be pressurized or compelled, but if they are interested in studying, let them study why being so negative for a good thing.
    What is wrong in training youth’s mind in studying something that helps in thinking and being constructive.
    What else one would want youth to do, spend time reading about movie actors actresses or read bad things or opt for an idle mind resulting in devil’s workshop.
    Our Upanishads recommends
    sravana manana nididhyasana
    Whatever you learn be it training for IIT-JEE, NEET, UPSC/ IAS, CA, etc. All are good.
    Many of our negative thoughts or such expressions are result of failures and instead of perseverance people find fault with the system. If those parents who write negative, they have a free will to advise their children not to study. Why misdirecting others.
    Imagine state boards are merely memorizing.
    IIT JEE is much better and definitely IIT Ian’s BTech have done good for themselves as well as to India.

  3. I am an iitian and this is 100 💯%% true
    Although I have a rank of 2567 cs I earn similar to my father and also one of my friend whose rank is 1987 out bombay aerospace is job less . It doesn’t matter at all what parents say

    • This what happens in every coaching institutes they just learn but the students don’t talk to their friends and more happens

    • Everything is correct idiot person…many and many are affected internally .. Yeah some good is also there, but good are there for few…mostly it’s bad for most… God bless those kids… And I hope society understand more

  4. Thanks to ‘The Print’ to bring this issue forward. It’s strange how much students and their families work and sacrifice to get these ‘coveted’ seats and yet 60-70 percent of the folks end up dissatisfied with what they wanted for themselves either academically or job wise.

  5. Please, a Print article on income levels of parents of students who get into IIT. Also categorised by reservation category and the urban/rural divide.

    Let’s see how much income levels, caste hierarchy and urban-vs-rural gap determines entry into IIT and NIT.

  6. I stopped reading this halfway. This is not the right reporting. Preparing for JEE starting from Class 11th is good enough to crack.

  7. Really Negative article, u cannot achieve anything without hard work and sacrifice, writer of the article must be 12th fail,and joined this job through bribe.
    Shame on you to write such a article to malign prrstegious institute and ur own country.

    • Are you really think that writer write this article in drunk mood . You foolish type of people can you give me reason why IIT is best college in INDIA if you gave the proper reason i will agree with you but if you can’t then I will give you reason and even solution as well.

      As per me thus article is best I am also jee aspirants in this march attempt I got only 85 percentile ,which still not enough for selection now I think you getting the point , even after IIT some are doing job of 9 to 5 and earn about 50000 Rs just . It is less than the standard of IIT . So please girst research on it and then make complaints about this writer .

      What ever he written is 💯 % true bro.
      Think once again for 1 seat there are more than 120 Students’ so there less than 1 %chance to gey selection .

    • Let me tell you, I am IIT student pursing my btech in maths and computing with dual degree. what ever is said in the article is absolutely correct. The system is so bad and is killing creativity of students. The wrong education system as well as the syllabus learnt for cracking IIT JEE is not at all used once you get into IIT and graduate. The only thing that matters after you graduate is the talent, communication skills, smart work.

      If you think the article is rubbish, take it granted that india will never produce people like Bill Gates, steve jobs, larry Ellison, Larry page, mark zuckerburg or Elan musk and will not have great companies like google, microsoft, cisco, IBM are born out of young talents.

      What you required is not cracking IIT JEE or preparing for JEE. You require creativity. Please allow kids to purse their interests and encourage the talent instead of putting in non sense coaching centers which just makes students dumb (yeah literally dumb). Ther eis lot more than just preparing for iit jee. Trust me majority of IITANS are job seekers, not the job creators. So do not regret even if you couldn’t crack IIT, you may become a better person, who knows, stay motivated.

  8. Parents kill the interest and hobbies of their kids and every time they compare with other kids to destroy confidence of their kids. Finally they become what they’re not parents fully satisfied with earning of their kids. Parents has to teach only bad and good. Let children think don’t inculcate what parents think

  9. IIT and medicine are not for everyone. Those who find it difficult should not go after it. So much cries about IIT and medicine , what about a large amount of people trying for CA and not getting it after wasting their youth. Why they are not increasing no of CAs. Again certain qualifications are not for everyone. If somebody feels less competitive they should leave that, instead of moaning

  10. The source of the problem is IIT. They market themselves as the fountain head of knowledge so many people queue to get into IIT. They strategically advertise in the first page that every year about the packages that an IIT gets. All this makes middle class people to train the children to prepare for the exam.

  11. A very negative article, may be even because of jealousy! What social life are you talking about? Tell a place where there is no competition; there is competition even to get married!!Our society has failed in giving a good family atmosphere to most children because of marital disharmony ; so, children do not miss much. Less said about the social and political atmosphere.

    • The perpose of the life is to live life fully in happiness. When this stage is achieved? A person reach this state of mind by practicing
      8 fold path given by buddha. The Newton or other inventors never went to iit or any big school. Entire universe study about laws given by these people.. LIVING LIFE FULLY IS LIFE
      IIT -NONIIT LIFE DOES NOT CARE LIVE LIFE NOW. MOMENT TO MOMENT TO MOMENT.

  12. This education system won’t get us anywhere in life except to give a low salaried 9 to 5 jod. im an youtuber im just 16 and also a class 10 student and im already making close to what my father makes(don’t get me wrong he is a gvt employee who earns good amount).
    Believe me we should do what we really want to do not something that is done in pressure that’s why people are unemployed, they are pressurized by their family and relatives and that start doing it even they don’t want to do and have no idea what to do after that. That’s why most people even though they are highly qualified (only in pen and paper not in real life) end up being broke.
    IIT is not the definition of success, Actually success means what u really want to do in life that is ur passion and u turn it into a career thats true success.
    Always remember at the end of the day money matters. Let’s assume u have every degree and u r highly qualified and if u don’t make good money then that kind of education is of no use.

  13. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. People don’t achieve their goals by enjoying their time, they earn it by working their ass off.

  14. Thank you so much for writing this article. The Indian edication needs to change and so does the job prospects. It’s a Shane that Indian govt. has made our lives so hard that despite of hardwork and lost chidhood to obtain IIT degree, we are sitting at home jobless.

  15. Fact of the life you can not climb Everest without any sacrifice irrespective of your age. IIT is the Everest of engineering. If anybody gets into it then what’s its worth? Fact is life is competitive and cruel. I am fine with a little bit of losing my social skill and rather get into Stanford. Fact is people getting into IIT., Stanford are NOT DUMB.

  16. INDIAN EDUCATION FOR engg college should change ..I guess eng of VTU could be more than just assignments,labrecords and internals ..and also completing the syllabus of 6 months in just 3 months and with some irritating timetable of semester exam … I don’t think they even care about the pressure it has on students….I get it it’s a professional course and we should be commented but think about doing the same titration in labs which I dont think it will help people in cs or ai branch …why not make the syllabus more interesting with regular workshops or projects instead

  17. In our state engineering entrance exam in 1996, 35 k students were vying for 450 seats. And some of us still got through without losing anything.
    Not sure if you would still belief the way of teaching and study can compensate rigor.

  18. We as Indians are ​to be blamed for this. Our population has increased so much in the last couple of decades without any effort of regulation whatsoever till date. We have given up the concept that quality of life matters and we are continuously running after the trends which are being advertised as the only viable options for a better future.

    • As an “outsider”/foreigner, I must say that it’s such a painstaking process to be admitted to such a high level institution and once graduated, and to later on struggle to be recruited for the desired job. Hat’s off to these brilliant young people who have to work so much hard to get an Admission. I believe Indian people are highlighly intelligent …but in my opinion…the Overpopulation is a HUGE problem that hasnt been tackled…such a huge population and scarce resouces (other than human resources) …and i also believe that there has to be a change in mindset i..e be more organised disciplined….if you want change for the better, it starts with you..

  19. lol that’s why i self-taught myself programming cuz I knew this stupid education system isn’t gonna help me further. And this site really needs to be optimised (this they don’t teach in engineering).

    • A dose of reality is always helpful. Instead of destroying the kids’ childhood, the parents should focus their energies on developing their true potential. The notion that these are, “good exams” that are, “life changing” is a myth created by the unholy nexus of media, the parents of students who qualified, and the coaching lobby.

    • Yes, true but one should also be aware of the other consequencies being faced of the failures ….apart from the short joy on cracking the much hyped jee .. after joining college all seems normal and enthu is lost. This is the sad fact… i think much is lost in gaining JEE , one should try it after 20 years … IIT to be linked to Engg 2 year of 5 year optional course … to prevent these mind weight on teenagers
      Life is just not jee preparing its inusive of many skills and exams we get to face ,

    • Haa you say this exam as life changing this exam i consider as bull shit I joined coaching in my local home town for Jee and ot was my decison no one ever forced me for this decison…. I was working really hard for it and my friends who started this prep along with me gave up in first month and i believe that was there best decison but I am a person who finishes something if i had started it so I continued on this but soon i realised that local coaching was not hepling me out so I joined akash online i tutor and fallowed allkh pandey and mohit tyagi on youtube for that i have gave up on society and then this corona period came again allinating myself from the society i gave exam i secured 93 percentile and in boards 94 percentage kind of good score but not enough to get me to gov insitute in my desired branch but i decided i will not take a drop and jooned a private colg a best decison i belive but here my aftermath conseq.
      1) 110 kg body wieght ..
      2) no friends no one to talk whole day i just go to ride bike alone and kind of feel jealous to see other people with their friends
      3). Got short tempered.
      4) Became selfish earlier i was very helpful but dont feel like helping any one.
      5). Old friends find me lunatic… 🥺
      6).I called my old friends but they never showed up..
      7) I have developd an inferior ity complex about my looks
      8) lost com skills
      9) not able to talk to opposite gender.
      10) feel like depression but sad part my family did not believe in depression as bieng punjabi ..
      11) Always wanted to eat fast food..
      12)I even now started feeling lil bit diff to talk to opp gender .
      13) Wrost no memories … Of school now..
      14) Joined insta after my jee and saw my friends hanging out with thier friends and feel like i have nothing .
      14) Etc. And many more

  20. To print
    Do write about CA (chartered accountancy) which indeed is a distant learning course which students just overlook and get trapped in the vicious circle.
    Easy to get in and hard to get out..
    Mugging up the ocean of the syllabus..
    Still the institute will fail you..
    That’s why we just have 3,00,000 qualified CAs since 1949…
    And PPL have written enough about social life…

    How Finland,Denmark are different…
    Or USA…

    A country becomes great by it’s companies
    A person stays happy with his relationships..

    In india we suffer from both…

    What’s the solution..
    I would probably make a youtube video on it..

    • I am a recently qualified Chartered Accountant and I agree with your views and second the above article! After so many years of intense studies, even I sometimes have a feeling of being burnt out or have thoughts about deeper meaning of life or simply I keep thinking about what kind of work would bring me happiness and satisfaction? I believe our society needs to change its point of view towards education. We simply want to get higher education so that we get good jobs instead of to satisfy our curiosity or to obtain knowledge. We need to embrace entrepreneurial mindset, leaving behind the employee mindset. Only then will we be satisfied with ourselves, our education and only then will our nation progress!

      • Too much emphasis on formal education system rather than learning and skilling by experience is the reason young entrepreneurs and risk takers are so few. Informal learning and skilling eg. by being an intern with someone who has lots of experience/skill in a field will sharpen a young person’s practical, social and and sales skills in the competitive marketplace.

  21. Most irritating part is , injustice full reservation policy , many less deserving candidate get opportunity due to reservation.

    Big injustice with those hard working people

  22. Pressure to meet national educational objectives have made our professors in IIT become busy teaching and evaluating students. There are far too many administrative demands on professors . We should halve the intake of students we take into IIT, instead take in a lot more scholars. Possibly remove the Btech course completely and have only integrated master’s (research) courses. Make IIT professors spend more time working or directing projects that are a research priority for our nation. Let research and not teaching become the priority.

    Let more emphasis on employable graduates within India be left to the NIT’s and other good state govt colleges. The IIT’s should also guide tier 3 and tier 4 colleges to improve their educational standards and improve the quality of their teaching staff.

    Remove IIT out of the Education ministry, bring it under the Science and Technology ministry. This will help IIT work closely with other govt labs and institutions on research projects. They should also do joint research with other other departments like Space, Atomic energy atc.

    I think the undergrads in IIT will then be utilised properly ie to study in an indigenous research environment and contribute by applying what they learn rather than just becoming targets of campus placement by MNC’s. For all the sacrifices done in their school years in developing clear foundations in science and maths, IIT undergrads should be exposed to how problems in research are worked on as part of the IIT experience.

    • Keeping in mind today’s scenario with NITs all over the country, I fully support your suggestion to scrap BTech from IITs… And rather let IITs focus more on research, providing better faculty to engg institutes all over India. This will surely reduce the unnecessary craze for IITs amongst parents for their kids so-called bright future. I am a graduate from IIT Mumbai.

    • This comment expressed Exactly what the system and country should really work on to. Developing nation is it, India and will always remain developing. Research and development is all they need to concentrate into and others will follow.

  23. Why there is less govt job option after completing engineering degree as compared to medical stream…after completion of engineering degree why maximum engineers choose IAS.. They are fedup the system of engineering.. No job fied… We should talk about this… Why govt not paying attention… Lakhs of btech mtech students are sitting at home why… Less technology so less need of engineers… If this top degree holders have no future then what is India doing… Why then admission of engineering seats are keep in all universities… Everyone can’t be an IAS… Lakhs of engineering holders can’t be an IAS… Give engineers an engineering job… Otherwise india will become a most engineers with zero job and high depression

  24. We must reflect as to why despite having the toughest entrance exam in the world there had not been and perhaps never will be a single noble prize, Turing prize,or Fields medal winner from the 60 batches of IIT ans we have generated.These exams reduce attention span to two minutes problems and those inclined to deep thinking gets rejected.The present and past IIT ans are coached herds and not genuine science talents at all .The whole world and all those who matter knows it.

    • Herd mentality is from parents driving their children towards getting an IIT branded education.

      A question I have is why all JEE toppers want IIT Bombay and why they want Computer Science. It’s herd mentality and the reason is : MONEY and ego boost of competing with the best. So we are producing extremely competitive drones ( intelligent of course) who ultimately want to work for good money (IT industry) or want to migrate to Western countries.

      If somebody is exceptional in maths at school level, ideally he should go on to study maths. But there is no money to be made easily in maths ( PhD plus long term research is required to solve deep problems) unlike a 4 year Btech CS degree where you can start making money right away.

    • IIT don’t do much research in basic sciences.
      Theyy are mainly engineering institutions.

      To win such prizes one needs research scientists and professors deeply investigating unknown areas of their fields for a long time. Deep research into fundamental science or maths does not guarantee you a great career so quickly like it does for an IIT engg grad. You have to commit long term to do a science or maths PhD, be a scholar for many years and have the conviction (with no money lining your pockets) to venture into the unknown to discover something new.

      • So the Nobel Laureates, Turing Award (which, by the way, isn’t given on basic sciences) winners and Fields Medal winners did not have a “great career” and every IIT grad does have one ? Your post is so ridiculous it is almost tragic !!

        • Point is it takes a long time to do some fundamental breakthrough in basic science or maths. A very small number of scientists get to do discover something pathbreaking and get to make good money or fame out of it.

          Very few Indian kids are excited about that. Plus there are not many role models. But brand IIT is perceived as being very successful or a passport out of India. Many role models for brand IIT. Maybe not every IIT grad does well, but it is a belief in the brand so parents and kids treat the JEE as an important thing in their lives. Note every IIT grad does not have to do something pathbreaking to be successful in his or her career. There are many business opportunities that can be exploited in some fields and the money realised much quicker than a scientist.

          • There are many other ways in which money can be made quicker than spending half of one’s childhood cramming physics and chemistry and another 4 years learning things one isn’t remotely interested in. So what ?
            The original point was that despite their hype, IITs have done very little to create new technologies in this country that excites young talent to do pathbreaking work. They have been a passport to, “phoren” jobs and that’s about it. The argument that students use an IIT degree as a shortcut to riches is neither here nor there. That is the case with the best technical institutes worldwide too. However that didn’t prevent the best ones from being hubs of innovation and not being reduced to a mere degree-granting organisation.

    • Yes deep thinking cannot be adequately tested via objective tests.
      The questions in such tests are usually tricky/sneaky and require time management practice. Knowing which question to skip and which question to solve in 3 subjects in space of 3 hours. Also sometimes answers can be guessed by eliminating.

      A traditional subjective type exam may be more effective. This is especially true when there can be more than one solution to a problem, and the examiner can clearly make out the thinking process of the candidate. Plus an interview will help weed out genuinely interested in engineering from those not so genuine (eg. Extracurricular science activities) .

    • Many IITians lead the work force in Western countries in engineering, management and science. We should be proud of them.

  25. Well, i have completed my masters degree. I didn’t qualify for JEE when i wrote the exam but i was fortunate that i got a seat in a State University, i never went to coaching for JEE/NEET or any tutions when i was in 12th. AND now when i look back, I have no regrets because i spent my childhood and teenage years as i wanted to, i enjoyed a lot.
    today children are joining these tutions and JEE/NEET coaching from 6th standard or even younger. Damn!! that’s crazy, they don’t even get time to enjoy, have fun, play games. thats sad. PArent’s want the best career for them so they can be proud but at the cost of their childhood. smh

  26. I read max comments regards student and parents. But we all think selfishly. School and colleges standard everyone know all are only eating parents money If we make better engineering college than iit than no race for iit. If we make coaching Or school like super30 than no need of kota. We should thanks to iits who have better education other wise where we go. Our govt. School very few in number are good and private are only money eatter. The basic education are very poor in India. Than we do not want kota and iit.

    • I agree with your remark that most of institutes and colleges are set up for filling pockets from middle class people but not to impart anything of value to students.And as far government Schools are concerned, teacher’s there don’t feel any responsibility towards young little kids.We have build up an ecosystem in which there is no way out.The inertia is so high that most of us don’t even want to break out and revolt against it but be a part of it and make it more stronger day by day. The only way to get out of this system is to not accept it. Even it cost you lesser salary, amenities and not riched lifestyle.

  27. I was reading this article and engrossed in my life “how related to me”
    My neighborhood friends, aunties say to me you talk less, you don’t participate in any functions, books m hi ghusi rheti hai, how much you are different from your younger sister!!
    Me– kya btao aapko meri bhi ischa hoti h ye sb krne ki baate krne ki khelne ki pr phele apni priorities yaad aa jaati hai…. But I don’t tell these things to anyone. I just live with these things.

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