Remoteness Is No Hindrance To Academic Excellence

Context: Highlighting the core issues and an overview of solutions in the Indian higher education sector by focusing on the scenario of elite engineering schools.

Core functions of an engineering school

• Guide students: Along as they inquire and discover their interests in science and engineering.
• Engage students with interactions: Between technology, society, economics and environment.
• Prepare students for working careers: As designers, gadget-makers and entrepreneurs;
• Invent new gadgets and discover new science: Enmesh all activities with local developmental needs.

Key issues in the higher education sector

• Attitude and aptitude mismatch in incoming undergraduates: Lack of adequate language skills, testocracy mindset (focusing on maximisation of marks rather than free inquiry)
• Regressive trend of making final year project non-mandatory: Loss of opportunity for student as well as work-culture of the institution.
  • Reason: Increased student strength without a proportionate increase in faculty strength.
• Low faculty retention/salaries: Compared to international norms making it difficult to recruit globally.
  • Not enough faculty members are hired, and that those hired are burdened with additional tasks such as running the canteen, etc.
  • Inconsistency and groupthink in hiring committees: E.g. Mechanical shortlisting (based on papers published etc.) of faculties resulting in promoting mediocracy over quality.

Way forward

• Specialised induction program for incoming undergrads: A five-week induction programme in IIT Mandi gently welcomes new undergrads into the academic setting and helps them feel at home.
• Addressing challenges in faculty recruitment and retention: Institutionalise quality processes like initial shortlisting of applicants based on their two-best works, instead of volume of publications.
• Fuel the start-up culture and innovativeness: Scope for new IITs - IITs at Ropar and Indore are within the top 100 young universities of the world, according to Times Higher Education ranking for 2020
  • An IIT Mandi project that developed a landslide warning system won the SKOCH award
• Remoteness no hindrance to excellence: Excellence in education depends on the quality of mentorship- E.g. Cornell University in the UK excelled despite its rural location.
  • The remoteness that is hand­in­hand with connectedness may even attract start­ups.