The IIT system took decades to build. Since 1990s, global organisations who would otherwise stick only to Princeton, Wharton, MIT, have recruited IIT graduates in growing numbers. The hype over astronomical salaries of some IITians recruited on-campus is only a tiny part of the story. The real story lies in institutional calibre. The minds that earn those salaries were shaped by institutional rigour, built slowly and painstakingly. How was this achieved? Tough admission tests, the ability to attract talent, deep links with industry, a committed faculty, a stated goal of maintaining a teacher-student ratio of 1:10, a focus on first principles of engineering, maths and science, especially in the early decades…the list is long.Heartbreakingly, four students have died by suicide within months in IIT Bombay, one of the original five, and the second one to be instituted. In another of the top five, IIT Delhi, eight students have died by suicide since 2023. Academic pressure, exam failures, casteism, and depression, a variety of reasons have emerged as concerns. Equally concerning is that, in some cases, faculty and management are being wholesale targeted for a tragedy. A young person taking his/her life is a question any institution must face head-on. But villainising professors and authorities, without waiting for results of an internal inquiry, does no one any good. Yes, IITs are about gruelling academic standards – that’s what makes them special. Yes, students who struggle to cope must receive attention, counselling, and advice, over and above what’s normally available for IITians. It’s also true though maintaining high performance standards cannot be negotiable in these institutions.What went wrong when a student took his/her life will depend on specific circumstances of a case. But one general weakness of the IIT system is its inability to rigorously maintain the famed 1:10 teacher- student ratio. Faculty recruitment hasn’t kept pace with student intake. Student numbers in IITs – there are 23 of them now – have roughly doubled over a decade, from about 65,000 to 1.35L. But teacher vacancies are high. It’s only when there are enough quality faculty members that student anxieties can be properly addressed. IITs have every SoP – committees, probes, and grievance redressal systems. But, processes are one thing, capacity for meaningful implementation another. More than one senior faculty member and IITs’ powerful alumni network have called for reforms. Listen to them.
Disclaimer: Views expressed above are the author’s own.