STUDENTS :: Looking for Care and Guidance

On any journey of introspection through an academic campus, one cannot overlook the most important segment of the community, namely the student body. At a time when so many changes are taking place in the Institute and so many new things are up on the anvil, the impressions of our students will constitute an important input to the re-building effort we have embarked upon. In this connection, DIRECTIONS took an appointment with the office bearers of Students Gymkhana and heard their hearts. Four of them: Gurupad Pawan, President, Abhishek Nigam, Cultural Secretary, G Sudhakar, Sports Secretary and Deepak Barnwal, Film Secretary, made it to this date with DIRECTIONS. Read on and get a picture of what is happening in their minds!!

Academics

The first question that comes to mind when dealing with a student body like the one at IIT Kanpur, is whether the students are happy with the academic activity on campus or not. For the undergraduates here, the answer is yes and no. Yes, because on the whole they are happy to be here and to be part of what they too recognise as a premier institute for learning. But also No, because like all students, everywhere, they think they are made to work too hard!

The academic load is thought to be very heavy. The general feeling is that the contents of many courses are too voluminous. "It is not possible to understand all the fundamentals that are taught in a single course in one semester. We should be given more time." What is taught in class is not really absorbed by students before more material is presented. To add to the problem, some students feel that the number of courses they have to go through per semester is also too large. In the semesters where there are fewer courses, they find that they understand more in each subject. And, to make the situation worse is the large number of exams and quizzes that they have to face. It just takes away the pleasure of studying. Students rarely find the time to read or solve problems for the sheer joy of it. By their own admission, they read something just to cram it before the exams. And by the time the next semester begins, they have forgotten what they learnt in the previous one. Students would welcome a re-evaluation of the courses they have to study, and the course contents. This re-evaluation, they feel, should be done in consultation with people, especially IIT Kanpur alumni, who are currently working in industry; this would help formulate courses which have a greater relevance to the world outside pure academics.

On the face of it, all this may seem, especially to the more senior teachers, just like the usual complaint of all students who do not wish to apply themselves. However, the majority of the students do feel like this. This feeling cannot be ignored because it has some very serious and far-reaching consequences. First, when a student is unable to understand or retain what is taught, she/he quickly loses interest in the subject. Instead of a love for the subject, what has been generated in the students is indifference! If most of the students of an educational institution are going through such an experience, it is high time that the system of teaching is re-evaluated. Secondly, most of these students appear to think that they are not being adequately equipped to face the professional demands and challenges that are a part of jobs in the industry. Under the mask of bravado that students wear almost like a uniform, may be a sense of insecurity regarding the skills they have managed to acquire during their education here. And, perhaps, the most dangerous consequence of the `overload' complaint is the underlying loss of self-esteem that arises from the knowledge that one does not know what one should.

Co-curricular Activities

The perceived lack of emphasis on practical training at IIT Kanpur is also a shortcoming which the students would like corrected. They generally agree that as far as theory goes, they are among the best in all the IITs. But the practical exposure is sadly lacking. As a solution, they recommend more hours in the laboratories doing work beyond merely what is given in the laboratory manuals, regular industrial visits, and scheduling the Industrial Tour a little earlier (before students lose interest in their disciplines!). Students find the idea of such tours and other co-curricular activities exciting. "Ideally, there should be regular tours starting right after the first year." They would also like technical societies of each department to be more active. This, students are confident, would create positive bonding with the department and nurture students' interest in their own subjects.

Some of the electives that are offered, especially those by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, are seen as irrelevant and boring. And, contrary to the spirit of `electives', very often these courses are allotted through a "lottery" system. A student puts down his/her choices, and a lottery is conducted to see who gets to study which elective course. Students, naturally, wish to have a genuine choice regarding their electives. If they have no real choice in the matter of their own elective courses, and if they are sometimes forced to study subjects in which they have no interest, the whole purpose of having electives in the first place is defeated. The Institute needs to give very serious thought to this aspect of the academic programme, keeping in mind that the all-round development of these young minds is the purpose of their education, and not just the churning out of skilful engineers.

Teachers

On the topic of their teachers, and their own relationships with them, the students come out clearly and with one voice. They want more of their teachers' time and attention outside the classrooms. And they have run out of ideas on how to improve faculty-student relationships! But, in their own words: "They [the faculty members] should share our extracurricular activities and co-curricular activities to a greater extent"; "We need to recognise that the faculty are here to guide us, and we should take their advice now and then. Similarly, the faculty should go into facts, the real facts and should not simply have an opinion on students based on something they have only heard"; "Faculty members should have enough faith and confidence in the students"; or more simply, "We are studying here, very far from our homes. We're not here only for studying. We expect the faculty not only to teach us, but to love us, to care for us."

It is clear that underneath their `don't care' attitudes, students do have a reluctant (?) admiration for their teachers. Attention, care and approval from the faculty members seem to be very high on the `wish list' of these undergraduate students. There is definitely at least one section of students on campus that is calling for help. Is anyone listening?

Extracurricular Activities

The usual overused reason of `academic load' is offered by the students for the general disinterest in creative extracurricular activities in IIT Kanpur. Students say that they are "always" tense about exams, and therefore find very little time to do anything other than their academic work. Another reason offered for the lack of extracurricular activities is that most students who come to IIT Kanpur have not involved themselves in extracurricular activities before this!

A third reason given is that there is not enough `social recognition' for those students who spend their time and energy in non-academic work. There does not seem to be any clarity regarding what kind of `social recognition' is required to motivate students to engage in activities of their own interest!

Technical Education versus Upmarket Jobs

For many students, a career in engineering is not an option from the very beginning. They are only interested in software jobs. This is because they feel that they stand a greater chance of "progress" in such jobs. "Progress" is defined in terms of better salaries, chances of quick promotions and a softer, comfortable (read air-conditioned) work environment. IIT Kanpur is only a place where they can get a plastic sheet with the IIT logo and their own name on it, and a passport! But other students (at least 50% by the students' own estimate) think that this is a good Institute for learning, and gaining sound technical knowledge.

Students talked about two major problems they face when it comes to making the choice of whether to stay within the discipline in which they are trained, or to go for the more lucrative, nontechnical options. The first problem is that they feel they have to take career decisions too early in life. Although they do acknowledge parental counselling and guidance, most of them feel that it is peer pressure which drives them in the final decision-making. Subsequently, many of them find that they are not really interested in the subject they are studying. So when they get a chance to do something else, they are happy to take it. Peer pressure plays another damaging role in students' lives, especially at the time of campus interviews. It is the software companies which come first to IIT Kanpur for on-campus recruitment. Students find that their batch mates, who may have much lower grades, and who opt for software jobs, obtain jobs, while they don't. This generates a great deal of anxiety and frustration. Many students, after a while don't bother to wait for technical companies, taking whatever job that comes up before them. Although students admit that there may not be any real cause for this frustration, they are, on the whole, unable to cope with the pressure.

The other problem arises with career counselling at the Institute. Students think there is not enough information available on the nature of the technical/nontechnical jobs before them. Some also believe that there aren't enough technical jobs for all of them, and so they had better opt for a nontechnical career. They would like the Institute to arrange for more comprehensive counselling on career options; and the persons they would like to talk to are the IIT Kanpur alumni, especially those working in industry.

In Conclusion

Undergraduate students at IIT Kanpur appear to be both self-assured and looking for approval. Of course, they would like a lighter academic load, re-evaluation of their courses, more information regarding academics, research and career options, but mainly a larger interest and participation in their lives from their teachers. The Institute administration and the faculty members need to invest more creative energy to ensure that students obtain a total education during their stay here. But students themselves need to think more seriously about academics. They should learn to look beyond the job market and try to become responsible members of the society that nurtures them.

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