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'Cannot compare IITs/IIMs with Stanford'

We invited you to share your opinion on Jairam Ramesh's recent statements about the quality of IIT and IIM faculty. Share yours too!

Dr M Sukumar, Head, Deptartment Of Instrumentation, SJCE, Mysore writes in:

I went through the opinion Of Mr Jeeva V. (Alumnus of IIT Bombay).

I am a professor in an engineering college in Mysore and did my Ph.D from IITM. You cannot condemn the teachers of IIT wholesale.

Centre of Ocean engineering in IITM has done remarkable work, which is world class.

You cannot compare IITM, with Stanford for the simple reason that amount of funds, ecosystem, absence of red tape and industry-supported project support are totally different. It is true that improvement is needed, and the govt should try to support them to achieve higher standards.

These discussions could lead more to soul searching.

Hope this will lead to result oriented and nation relevant research. Chinese and Singapore models have given excellent results. We should try to emulate them.

'Excellence can be achieved through self-training or outside training'

Former scientist professor BR Sant says:

Jairam Ramesh's opinion about the faculty of IIMs/IITs as not being 'world class' is not surprising.

Why is it that we always talk of Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, MIT as academic institutions bearing the 'world class' stamp.

Does one again has to say that their faculty are world class, their students are world class, their classrooms are world  class, their wash rooms are world class, their administration is world class?

For Jairam Ramesh to focus on faculty as non-world class and students as world class speaks of his ignorance or may be even arrogance.

I feel 'excellence' is a better word to describe the quality of faculty, students and administrative staff.

Maybe I am biased, almost obsessed with excellence even as a way of life. I recently wrote a book Towards achieving excellence in teaching and learning: Some thoughts.

My thesis is that excellence can be achieved (it could be in genes) through self-training or outside training.

To do so, we need "tools" or "skills", which I identified as: Self-Esteem, Enthusiasm, Humility, Positive Attitude, and Communication Skills (all the four viz. speaking, listening, reading, and writing).

These tools must be continuously improved, sharpened and sustained all through ones career.

Once one practices the five core skills (there could be more) one can be any class.

A word of caution: An academic institution is not just students and faculty. The support staff, technicians, administrative staff, class IV staff must also be 'taught' the core skills and practice them. Even the Deans and Directors must 'excel'.

Then only the institutions will attain top class reputation. Let us first talk of attaining the "skills" and retaining them throughout life rather than winning Nobel Prizes. Sri Bhagwat Gita's Karmanye wadhikaraste maa phaleshu kadachan is in essence attaining excellence, what Jairam Ramesh calls world-class.

'Our educational institutes are just glorified'

Amitabh Verma says:

Person selected in reserved category with 110 marks in IIT entrance constructing dams, buildings etc. after getting BTECH degree with just pass marks.

Person selected for Medical seat in reserved category with 33 per cent marks operating upon a patient with serious ailment after getting a pass marks degree.

Person selected for / cleared pilot training with pass marks ultimately flying a plane with 300 passengers. Person who himself scored just pass marks gets a job of teacher in schools / educational institutes.

Can anyone in his wildest imagination dare to think becoming world class with this kind of approach. Our educational institutes are just glorified. Quality stuff is not coming out from these institutes.

It is really unfortunate that instead of providing resources to the truly needy and deserving candidates, our country believes in distributing degrees based on caste reservation.

It is truly said: EK ulloo hee kafee tha barbade Gulistan karne ko. Har Shaakh pe ulloo baitha hai anjaamain gulistaan kya hoga.