BENGALURU: As many as 7,248 students dropped out of India’s holy grail of engineering education, the Indian Institutes of Technology, over the past five years. This staggering dropout statistic was revealed by the ministry of human resource development in the Lok Sabha recently while making a statement on top engineering institutions like the IITs and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) getting approval to provide the exit option to students.

The exit option allows students to switch from BTech to BSc after the second semester.

Dropout data from the IIITs was not available. Sources said the IIITs, unlike some of the IITs, seemed to be averse to the idea of providing the exit option to students struggling to cope with academic pressures.

A few months ago, the IIT Council had left it to individual institutes to take a call on the proposed exit option. Subsequently, the MHRD, at its coordination forum meeting on October 16, approved a proposal authorising the board of governors of the IIITs to decide on the modalities for the implementation of the programme. The country has 24 IIITs, 19 of them based on the public-private partnership model.

Several IIITs believe that the exit option is not an antidote to the spiralling dropout rate at the premier engineering institutions.

S Sadagopan, director of IIIT-Bangalore, said, “We do not intend to introduce an exit option since it creates a stigma about the student and is as bad as a student leaving the institute. It stays with the person forever. Instead, trust the teachers at these institutes. They have lived through it for decades of professional life and know what is best for the students. There is no single formula as each individual student and each institute need a different solution.”

IIIT-Hyderabad denied plans to introduce an exit option. “IIIT closely monitors the performance of all its students, especially in the first year. Those who do well in the first year cope easily in later years. We have mechanisms to provide additional academic assistance right after their first set of examinations. We have a flexible approach to learning — students can take fewer credits in a semester and complete the requirements of degree programme on their own schedule. As a result, we see practically no student unable to complete the academic requirements,” said PJ Narayanan, director of the institute.

He, however, said an exit option would help some struggling students.

“The government must clearly spell out the requirements of an alternative degree — it’s not a fallback option, and must stand on its own. Will a well-performing student be allowed to claim an alternative degree on request? A four-year degree student could exit with an alternative degree in three years if that’s possible. The institutions contemplating this option must have thought about these scenarios and found satisfactory solutions,” he added.

IIIT-Pune registrar SN Sapali echoed him.

“Our students are mentored and monitored closely to help them excel in the programme. There is no exit programme for our students,” Sapali stated.

The ministry of human resource development has said a good job offer is one of the compelling reasons for postgraduate students to quit courses midway.



In Video: Over 7,000 exit BTech in IIT in last 5 years