This one will be different.
Every year a million aspiring engineers and STEM lovers apply for an exam that they are made to think will decide their fate. More than a million 18-19-year-olds compete for less than 10 thousand IIT seats. Most of them have spent 2-3 years preparing for this day and are fixed on the thought that a question set will decide If they will be happy in their lives or not. This has been the story of probably very middle and lower-class STEM lovers in India who hope to specialize in the subjects they love or they think they love as there aren’t many choices to choose from. Most of them caught the imagination of going into an IIT when they didn’t even know what they were getting into. Even with a 1% chance of getting into an IIT, they work tirelessly devoid of the reality that they don’t get to choose the subject they want to learn, It all depends on the rank you got. Higher the marks you got more are the chances of getting the subject you like. Most of the students were mobilized by coaching institutes as they preach the motto of ‘IIT ka TAG” and “1 crore ka package” which probably only a dozen or fewer students are able to get but still It helps them procure hundreds of thousands of students into their classes with high tuition fee. Most of the coaching institutes are valued at more than $1 billion. The students who chant the name of IIT the whole day don’t know that more than a hundred thousand are also preparing as hard as themselves. Most of my friends are In the trap of these coaching institutes and when I try to argue their belief they become close-minded and say that it’s the only way. Hearing this from 16-17-year-olds really hurts. When the most hardworking students think this is the only way, how will we progress as a society?
A country where 80% of the engineers are unemployed and the aspiring ones have to compete with a million others like him does signify that the system is broken. Some say it’s necessary to get the best ones out of the herd but it really sounds like they want to take away the right to good education from some that aren’t able to score well. Everyone has a right to good education no matter their background or scores. “Give a man a fish and you feed him for one day , Teach a man to catch fish and you feed him for a lifetime” is my favorite quote that signifies the value of learning a skill. Unarguably there’s no better investment for a country than in the education of its citizens. When one elected leader after another is just a showman or puppet this is what we get. No one to my knowledge is really trying to change this belief. The only reason this is happening is that they exploit the insecurities of Indian Students and parents. And some see it as their only chance to get out of the poverty they live in or the only chance to do something in their life which is the biggest lie. Most of the students who graduate from IIT make money by getting others admitted to IIT which seems ironic, don’t they get any job they have been trained for?
There has to be a solution to this problem which has been messing with students for a long time. Most of the students who aren’t able to make it into these institutes who which is the 99% of all students feel their self-image degrade in their own eyes. Some get depressed others go to colleges they never wanted to. What society are we in when we are not even able to educate the future citizens properly? Students go away from their homes at the age of 16 to study in coaching institutes just in the hope to get into a good college while these good colleges arent event the best in the world and have really low research output as compared to foreign colleges which are easy to get into. Because of being government funding IIT’s don’t have much autonomy and funds.
After observing this for 2 years I have made my decision not to get admitted to an IIT. I am open to any questions and attacks on my beliefs. I am still open-minded and hope this changes someday.
PS. Nothing in this blog has been exaggerated, it is all true as earlier I was also one of the million IIT aspirants. If you have any questions email me - madhavgoyal007@pm.me
or if you want to show a gesture of appreciation gift me a book at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/madhavgoyal.