Government - Don't mess with the JEE

The move to tinker with the JEE* is an example of BAD intentions to spoil something that has worked well for the country. Needless to say there is always scope for improvement of a selection criteria that focuses on merit and is devoid of political meddling and corruption.


It seem to be a politically motivated "vote-bank" or "money-grabbing" idea to curry favour with some constituents or other. Don't these people have better things to do, to improve the plight of the millions of poor in India? Instead of improving people's lives, the prevailing tactic is to lower existing standards to enable "inclusive growth".


The proposal at hand is to change the format of the JEE exam with a preliminary aptitude test, with a 40% weight to the entrance test with Board exam results. The following Scenarios depict some of the possible outcomes:


Scenario 1: It is a non-issue.

The advocates of this moronic idea don't realize the varied levels of the different Boards. Normalizing them is a major challenge. Many students score a greater than 100% result. One possibility is that there will be grade inflation in the harder Boards so that their graduates can compete effectively. And if most of the applicants have greater than 100%, this effectively makes the 40% weight assigned to the Board results a non-issue. Everybody gets the 40%, khullum khula.


Scenario 2: The process crumbles on its own weight.

The JEE is a highly automated test environment capable of handling the massive number of entrants taking the test. Unless the factoring in of this 40% weight into the JEE results is automated, i.e matching the entrants with their Board marks, and the number entered accurately, the process will be fraught with errors. This idiotic idea of ascribing 40% weight to the Board exam adds so much weight to the process that it becomes impossible to implement efficiently and accurately.


Scenario 3: Institute a common Board exam:
That is what the two step JEE was and that was kabashed.


Scenario 4: Bye Bye UPA

The UPA fails to be the next governing body and this issue gets shunted to oblivion.


Scenario 5: Hurting Minority sentiments

The IIT graduates are a minority community and tinkering with this "Sacred Cow" hurts the sentiment of this community. Once this community starts expressing their "hurt", the UPA government which excels in appeasing minorities will be forced to withdraw this effort.


Scenario 5: Non-cooperation

The patriotic faculty could just put its foot down and say this is just not feasible citing Scenario 2. This would force the MHRD to institute a software project to automate factoring in the weighting of the Board results and hopefully it will be assigned to the duds Murthy referred to in his whine and the project will never be completed to fruition.


* JEE - The Joint Entrance Exam that students appear for admission to the IITs

Get Real Mr. Murthy

The claim that IIT graduates are not up to snuff, that coaching classes is one of the reasons responsible for this situation could well be the outcome of the statement being framed incorrectly. An alternate claim could well be that the IT industry does not provide interesting opportunities to attract IIT graduates.

Kudos to the IT Industry:

The IT Industry comprising of notable companies such as Infosys, TCS, WIPRO and others, has put India on the map as a leader in World Class software solutions and BPO service providers. The IT Industry has been so successful that the term “Banglored” is being used to describe jobs in the developed world that are being outsourced. Even President Obama, (who moves his head from side to side as he speaks), talks of jobs that he wants in Buffalo, (while he looks in one direction), instead of evaporating to Bengaluru (while he looks in the other direction). The people involved in the IT Industry are doing a yeoman’s job and something that has brought our Nation a tremendous amount of pride, employs a lot of individuals both directly and indirectly and brings in much needed foreign exchange.

There is more to IT:

IT activity can be broadly categorized as Architecture, Construction and Services. The Indian IT industry for the most part is involved in “construction” activity that extends the customers existing computing environment and services. The former involves “pounding the keyboard”, and the latter involves providing technical support, maintenance etc., answering the phone, and/or doing some administrative work. Star IIT graduates look for opportunities that go beyond these activities, let alone answering the phone during night owl hours!

Where the Opportunity is, Graduates will go:

Consequently graduates gravitate to where the opportunity and remuneration is, be it the Financial or FMCG sectors. Yes, they follow the money. Furthermore, there are attractive opportunities at companies such as Intel, GE, Microsoft, etc. Graduates interested in software development would rather work for high tech companies involved in developing innovative products rather than IT companies involved in “construction” activities. The fact of the matter is that industry comes to IIT and clamor for IIT graduates. Many have multiple job offers. Some are disappointed with the compensation extended and do look for alternatives. And yes there maybe some slackers.

In search of the ideal IT candidate:

The issue of competency in English was raised. Technical skills and competency are orthogonal. One could be very competent technically in Hindi or their regional language. Obviously, English competency is important in the IT industry that is involved in what is commonly referred to as “body shopping”. And yes the IT companies eagerly look for technically competent individuals, fluent in English who would be happy and content “pounding the keyboard” that they i.e. the IT company can “body shop”. Infosys is an excellent company and it does well by hiring graduates that augment its success from regional colleges. An IIT graduate who scores the JEE, and graduates from this elite institute, probably aspires to something more than being recruited and bunched with second and third rung college grads.

In Summary:

It appears Mr. Murthy’s statement was based on anecdotal experience and not grounded on facts. Maybe, just maybe, the IITs are the wrong place to look for the ideal IT employee.

Mission IIT

IIT is frequently in the cross hairs of controversy. Recently the first salvo was fired by Jairam Ramesh, who claimed that the faculty at IIT is not world class¹ and that they are excellent because of the quality of the students. This was followed by Narayan Murthy’s claim that IIT graduates are not up to snuff and that coaching classes was one of the reasons responsible for this situation². Anand Kumar, who founded Super 30, countered that the coaching classes are geared to crack the JEE³. Representatives of the faculty weighed in with observations of their own and echoed Murthy⁴.

The biggest asset the IITs have created is Intellectual Capital. This has benefited the Nation and the World. Brand IIT is internationally acclaimed. Looking ahead Mission IIT is to increase this asset with the right mindset that serves India’s National Interest both nationally and internationally. 

A desire expressed by many is that the IITs should rank among the world’s best universities, in the same league as MIT, the Ivy League, and Stanford etc. The closest IIT comes to is MIT. The MIT curriculum includes Anthropology, Economics, and Political Science etc. The Ivy Universities have broader and more diverse majors. Therein lies a clue! Expecting the IITs in its current Avatar, to rise and rank among these Universities is like asking a Leopard to change its spots.

The issue that surfaces occasionally is that the IITs should serve India’s National Interest. This is cast as an Excellence Vs Relevance debate. Excellence is a given. The debate centers on Relevance. The Govt. of India is a major stakeholder by way of its investment in the IITs.  That makes the citizens of India major shareholders. The IITs must serve the National Agenda of Inclusive Growth and bridging the Urban-Rural Divide. In that respect, achieving World Class should be an outcome, not a goal. The goal ought to be to establish an Iconic category of Excellence with respect to serving the National Agenda. This could very well result in the IITs becoming a role model for other institutions across the world to follow.

Performance to Date:

The output of the IIT i.e. the “Product” comprises of the Graduates, Post Graduates, Relevant Research and Industry Engagements. The Nation has benefited from the accomplishments of the B.Tech students and the role the faculty has played in shaping the minds and capabilities of these students. The institution has produced numerous PhD, M.Tech and MSc graduates. Their contribution to the Nation is either unrecognized and at present not as significant as the contribution of the B.Tech graduates.

No one could have foretold the fact that the Nation (the US and the World) benefited from the combined efforts of graduates (both from IITs and other colleges) who migrated to the US, who together with graduates working in India brought about the Software Revolution as well as other technological advances. The much maligned and lamented Brain Drain morphed into Brain Gain.

As far as Research and Industry engagements is concerned? “There is hardly any worthwhile research from out IITs” says Ramesh.

However, past performance does not guarantee future results and there is general agreement that changes are required to generate the appropriate output for the future.

Mr. Murthy’s claim in the absence of valid data is conjecture. However, it could very well portend a trend that may be real. An important first step is to do a detailed analysis of the opportunities graduates are pursuing and feedback on their performance from Industry.

Focus on Technology:

Technology is a phase in a product life cycle between a Scientific Discovery being demonstrated in the lab and the discovery being part of some capability/utility that is reproduced reliably using Engineering methodology. That is to say Science is involved in discovering “something”. Technology is involved in demonstrating that this “something” can be reproduced and provides the platform for the Engineering phase which is involved in this “something” being part of a solution that has some broad or narrow utility.

With this in mind, the Excellence Vs Relevant issue would be to focus Excellence in Technology with Relevance being a target.

Expectations:

The expectation of the IITs is that it provides excellent technologists, technologists with business acumen, technologists with managerial and leadership skills, Innovators and Entrepreneurs. The goal is to contribute to the Technological Intellectual Capital of India. The country needs more individuals who will provide thought leadership and become change agents, the likes of Nandan Nilekani, Naraya Murthy, Jairam Ramesh and Arvind Kejriwal.

Graduates are expected to possess attributes critical to be successful in today’s environment, such as excellent presentation and inter-personal communication skills, be well versed in group dynamics, have the practical skills required to solve real world problems that go beyond just the theoretical realm. This underscores the importance of multi-dimensional skills and creative thinking.

With the above in mind, the following recommendations are made:

Recommendation #1:

Tune and refine the JEE. Improve it to filter in the best technical mind set. Maybe add sections that test analogies and logical thinking. A focus on English is a red herring. The JEE could be translated into regional languages and that would still work. Coaching will always be focused on cracking the Test in whatever Avatar it takes. 

Recommendation #2:

Expand the curriculum to include new majors in other areas like MIT – Economics, Political Science, Social Science etc. Set up separate JEEs to filter in students with excellent multi-dimensional skills. Use the real estate of the IITs effectively to build new departments. Make English proficiency an important criterion for these majors. New coaching classes will emerge. 

Recommendation #3:

The students enter as rough gems. The professors play an important role in shaping and polishing them. The rigor of the academic program acclimatizes students to deal with and perform under stress. The theoretical knowledge is the fabric for procedural thinking that provides the framework of solving real world problems. But that is not all. Ask any successful IIT graduate and they will assert that hostel life and experience gained outside of academics played a major role in their careers and lives. Each year assign a sizable number of the inter-disciplinary freshmen to a select set of hostels and let them be together till they graduate. Each year a different set of hostels can be selected.  Hostel 8 had the max number of IITB-75 graduates, which has emerged as the most successful batch of all IIT’s thus far. Hostel life fosters bonding and camaraderie that lasts for life and is stronger between batch mates and less so between different batches. If this sounds like Social Engineering, it is. Empirical evidence supports it. Extra-curricular activities are important and should be allowed to foster. This by far is probably the most important aspect of IITs. A healthy mix of academics and extra-curricular activities are key in shaping these precious stones into polished gems. The environment is analogous to that of a Petri Dish. Put the right mix of minds together, allow them to grow and progress. The results will be outstanding

Recommendation #4:

Rural India is trailing and it will take many years to catch up to assimilate advanced technologies that are prevalent in developed countries. What IIT can do for Rural India is an enigma at this time. However, making a six month rural residency requirement for all students of government aided institutes (not just IITs) will go a long way in bridging the "mind set" gap, between Urban and Rural India. In the initial stages the focus would be to build the infrastructure (toilets, living, and dining quarters). With comfortable living conditions this would be a wonderful experience for students of all disciplines to converge from all over the country. It will promote national integration and another level of bonding. As part of this exercise, graduates should be instilled in the notion of Nation Building.  IITians, collectively can play a major force in improving the Quality of Life for all segments of society, both Urban and Rural.  

Concluding Thoughts:

Globalization is nothing new. It has existed for centuries. What has changed is the velocity at which capital, goods, manufacturing and services move across international borders. India is playing “catch up” and currently importing “packaged” technology for applications such as, mobile telephones, internet connectivity and even automobiles. The IITs have to play a significant role in fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Competing in the Global environment; to lead India to be a contender in the World Economy, requires people who have Quantitative and Qualitative expertise. The IITs are one of the institutions that have to play a major role to address this challenge as well.

References:

1. Jairam on IIT faculty:

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/iit-iim-faculty-not-world-class-jairam-ramesh-107764

2. Murthy on IIT:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/careers/education/NR-Narayana-Murthy-Quality-of-students-deteriorating-IITs/articleshow/10217630.cms

3. Ananth Kumar’s response:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/IIT-exam-panel-behind-poor-student-quality-Super-30-founder/articleshow/10241241.cms

4. IIT faculty echo Murthy:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/IIT-heads-echo-Narayana-Murthy-on-dipping-quality/articleshow/10296730.cms