The Fifth Estate, the student press of IIT-M, recently interviewed Prof. V.G. Idichandy [Part 2].
In a career spanning more than 40 years at IIT Madras, Prof. Idichandy has held numerous positions in the campus administration – Dean of Students, Deputy Director, Chairman – JEE and many more. He has played an instrumental role in setting up many of the institution’s current systems and is widely known for his camaraderie with students of the institute. He retired from the role of Deputy Director in October, 2011.
The second part has a section devoted to his views on JEE:
On the JEE System
During his association with JEE, he made a gen
eral observation that a diligent student with good marks in the 10th and 12th did well after coming in to the IITs but that there was no correlation between performance in JEE and performance at IIT. [See this The Fifth Estate, IIT Madras; Nanopolitan (for the edited version)
” Observation that a diligent student with good marks in the 10th and 12th did well after coming in to the IITs but that there was no correlation between performance in JEE and performance at IIT ”
This is bound to happen when the education system at IITs is similar to high school.
Instead of changing the criteria of selection (which has been proved to filter the best brains) they should concentrate on transforming the education system at IITs. Most people don’t study because they are let down by the quality of professors and content of courses which hasn’t been updated for past 20 years. The course work needs to be more challenging and affiliated to current industry trends.
I absolutely agree with Goyal…
Watever this ex dep diro of IIT M is speaking proves how pathetic is the quality of professors in IIT’s…….Its the students whioch comethr that ‘ve made the repu of IIT’s……..This perception of the ex-diro proves the profs in iit’s arn’t good enuf to teach ppl in IIT’s………The system of education sh’d be changed in iits ,not the selection system……….JEE produced the best brains……Scrapping JEE ‘ll not help at all………Its something which really pains me …..I seriously doubt the abilities of the upcomin iitians which’ll be produced…….They’ll really below par to what ‘ve been produced till now.
First Reservation of 50% ,now dis……….Kapil Sibal is spoiling the wholesalers nation !!
In addition to what Mr. Goyal said. This is another BIG problem, with people who get into IIT. Those student who make it to the IITs, when they were preparing for IIT-JEE, they are highly motivated and think highly of IIT, and since JEE has high expectations from students, same way, students have HIGH EXPECTATIONS from IITs, they are is good bunch of students who wanted to get into research when they get into IIT, but as time goes on, in the first year itself, most of them, leave that goal, and start cursing IITs, that IIT for which they were dying to get into, worked super hard for 1 or 2 years, preparing.
And, I really don’t know, why the faculty do nothing to handle this issue… maybe the faculty don’t see this as an issue.. i guess…
the internal politics of professors for the posts such as Dean Director etc. etc. keeps them more busy… in life.
But atleast for once you guys can sit together, and take some decisions, and work on how to not loose the REAL students which you get after the JEE….
whether it’s the way the classes are conducted or lack of infrastructure or bad conditions of Hostels… or something else… JUST WORK ON IT…
Students at IIT are not happy with their hostel facilities… they just feel good because it’s not as bad as other govt. Engineering colleges… bahhot buraa hone se thoda buraa hi aacha hai..
and the exposure we get at IITs regarding Industries and Research is not upto the mark.. first and foremost it’s few in numbers, so only few studetns get it. WHY NOT ALL !!?
and the worst thing about IITs is
students are so scared of professors
that they never say anything against the system,
and there is no GOOD PLATFORM for students to put forth their problems or concerns.
so, infact, IIT itself has a system which pushes students towards MBA…
and I strongly… IITs “AUTONOMOUS” status is just useful for professors as they are corrupt too, and money granted to IITs is never 100% used with honesty.
ATLAST IIT k professors hain to INSAAN hi !!!
and INTERNATIONALLY IITs are at a good place just because of students…. because ultimately, what most of the professors teaching is REALLY POOR, reason being, they do have great knowledge about the subject, and they don’t how to express and TEACH.
ONLY few professors are really respected by students when professors are not infront of students.
and a good % of professors need psychological counselling, as, they are intelligent and sadistic too.
The alloting branch after second semester is an excellent idea..
I partly concur with Goyal’s views. I think the primary reason for why a candidate is successful in the JEE is because of the sufficient interest and curiosity he inculcates in the sciences and Mathematics thanks to a conducive environment of like-minded peers as well as competent teachers.
On the other hand, what the IITs are not able to do is retain this interest in the student and encourage him to pursue research in his chosen field. While it may be good to have a choice of branch at the end of the second or third semester or to have a unified entrance exam, I believe the reforms are heading in the wrong direction. What is more crucial is for an overhaul of the academic standards at the institute itself, namely that of the course curriculum and the teaching faculty, rather than disturbing the JEE, which has been one of the few institutions in India that has been doing remarkably well over the last several decades; the strength and success of the IIT alumni network proving that.