With more first-year students failing in the semester examination in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, Prof Bhaskar Ramamurthi, director of the institute, told Deccan Chronicle Education about the steps taken by the institution to help students clear the examination.
Former deputy director of the institute and emeritus professor V. G. Idichandy also suggested that a student should not be allowed to select a branch in the first year on the basis of JEE rank, rather one could study basic engineering in the first year and make a choice in the second year.
"The percentage of failures among first-year students as soon as they join the institute is high. It is difficult to clear IIT entrance examination: one has to be focussed and dedicated teachers help aspirants clear it.
The problem starts once they enter the IIT system, as in this environment the faculty just lecture and you are supposed to take up the exam and clear it.
So, this makes it difficult for students to clear the examination in the first semester," he explained.
Elaborating, Prof Ramamurthi, an alumnus of the institute, said 60 students sit in a class and some feel shy, don't speak out about their problems to their faculty, and, hence, they don't clear the examination. "In a matter of two exams, your fate is sealed.
Some students find the language difficult and a few others have come from coaching centres which train them to handle only multiple choice pattern of questions.
So, when they enter the IIT system, we ask them to work out some Maths problem, and they say we are not used to this," he added.
Prof Ramamurthi lamented that some of the students take academics lightly after they enter IIT. "Anyway, these students do well later in the course, may be from second year onwards. So, we are making things easy from July.
The faculty will split their class into groups of 50 or 60 and teach them individually and concentrate more on each student.
We are looking at several other options, including tailor-made courses, allowing a smoother transition for students in a slow manner," he added.
Prof Idichandy said students should be asked to study common subjects like Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry in the first year, which would also remove pressure.
"The older five IITs agreed to this proposal and in 2004, our committee recommended this but I don't know why the other IITs opposed it.
I think we should have a branch of study called General Engineering, which would not specialise in a particular discipline," he added.