The softer side of IIT_JEE's toughness

The softer side of IIT_JEE's toughness

The IITs declared the results of supposedly, the world’s toughest entrance exam to crack – the IIT JEE, on the 30th of May this year. Almost all the newspapers carried full-page coverage of the news, including even the male-female statistical break-up of qualified students; and of course smiling photographs of jubilant toppers who have made their parents, schools and cities proud. Out of a whopping 243039 takers, 8635 managed to qualify for the rankings to make it to the coveted IITs (including 587 girls, a fact lauded by the media seeing their dropping numbers all through these years).

We will all read these stories, congratulate those who made it with high ranks and the toppers will bask in this newfound glory for a long time to come. Do we ever realize that even if we assume 100,000 students appearing for the JEE seriously, more than 95,000 students will not make it to the IITs? Statistically, this gives a success rate of just 5% (and only 2% if we include all those appearing). Does anyone write anything in the papers for them? No, because it is only the toppers who deserve to be lauded, don’t they?

In the JEE world, there is break-neck competition, not to mention the tremendous pressure to succeed. While we may say that those buckling under pressure never deserved to get in, having appeared for JEE myself twice and having not made it to the IITs, I can tell you that not answering a couple of questions in the exam can throw you distantly out of the race. Surely, pressure has little to do in such a scenario. In such a situation, is it that those who miss it by a whisker or even a couple of them are not worthy of the best engineering education in the country? No, because JEE as an exam cannot decide their merit, currently. Only scholastic measurement of a student’s intelligence (which is how JEE tests prospective students) cannot serve as the best indicator of the personality of a student, the understanding of which is essential to determine whether a particular engineering stream is suited for him / her.

It is time the JEE changes its pattern, not only to reduce the stress the students take on themselves, but more so to ensure that the best minds, not merely those who can rattle off derivatives / integration sums in seconds or those who can reproduce electro-magnetism sums verbatim from the notes of the coaching classes in the so-called “Mecca of JEE training”. The CAT (for IIMs) has interviews and group discussions as an integral part of its selection process. Just as the country needs its best managers from the IIMs, the IITs were established to produce the best engineers. Instances of students having made it to the IITs and then committing suicide for not being able to cope up with the pressure have featured recently. On top of that, “coaching centers” whose only aim is to equip students to crack JEE, succeed in getting students inside the IITs, but without the necessary aptitude to succeed in their curricula. JEE must ensure that not only scholastic aptitude, but an attitude and personality match is also equally important for an IITan, which if not considered, will not only spoil lives of those unable to withstand the strain, but will also not allow deserving others a chance to get the best engineering education in the country.

The point here is two-fold; firstly, not all the best students make it to the IITs; and secondly those who deserved but didn’t, need not panic or worry. IIT is not the end of the world (an oft quoted phrase now). I won’t give examples of how many IITans (and how many non-IITans) have made it big in this world, as I believe it has been repeated ad nauseum. The power is within you. Remember Eklavya’s story, who became the best archer without the best teacher beside him. IIT may not be with you, but you don’t be without it. Of course you will miss the other part of the grind: the countless nights spent together with friends playing basketball, the mesmerizing IIT campuses etc. But such is life my dear friend. Good education is absolutely essential; but forget not the most important factor in life: to be a good human being.
Bottom-line: Be the Eklavya in your life; and the world is yours.