The Hindu Business Line : Faculty crunch threatens Brand IIT

Worry lines
If proposed institutions do not get good faculty it will dilute IIT’s quality, brand name.
Generation gap seen between existing IITs, new ones as they share different concerns.

P.T. Jyothi Datta

Mumbai, March 6 Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg, say top IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) representatives, fearing that the faculty-crunch facing the institution could threaten Brand IIT. Their plea comes as the Centre looks to establish more IITs across the country, including at Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan, as proposed by the Budget.

Over the years, the five older IITs and two recent ones have worked hard to establish higher levels of education, says IIT Bombay’s Director, Professor Ashok Misra, adding that the new technology institutions should not be called IIT.

There is a need for several more technology institutions in the country and the IITs could incubate and support them in terms of resources and so on, he explains. He added that Brand IIT comes with its trademark qualities.

The IIT brand name should be limited to the time-tested institutions, delivering quality education, Prof Misra said. Also, a practical ‘generation gap’ could arise between existing IITs and the newly established ones, as they share different concerns. The old institutions face issues such as faculty shortage, while the new ones would have to tackle a different set of problems, he pointed out.

Dilution of quality

There is a faculty shortage facing existing IITs. In such a situation, if good faculty was not got for the proposed IITs it could mean dilution of IIT’s quality and brand name, observes Professor M.S. Ananth, Director, IIT Madras.

Explaining the Centre’s decision to set up more institutes, he said, at least 12,000 of the 250,000 students who take the joint entrance exams are of the quality that should be given good technology education. But the IITs are together able to admit only 4,000 students. To meet this shortfall, the IITs had suggested that more technology institutes be set up.

If an IIT had been started every second year, then a good faculty could have been built up over a period of time, he said, pointing out that the first five IITs (Kharagpur, Bombay, Madras, Kanpur and Delhi) were set up between 1951 and 1961. Then came a 30-year lull, after which IIT Guwahati and IIT Roorkee were set up.

Other methods

It is difficult for existing IITs to nurture one other technology institute, he said. Top IIT minds are brain-storming other methods to spread technology education, including virtual models, he added.

Professor B.N. Jain, IIT Delhi’s Deputy-Director (Faculty Affairs), however, points out that branding new institutes as IIT would, in fact, give them a head-start. It would make them part of a community that shares resources and expertise, he said.

The new IITs will have to live up to certain traditions, Prof Jain agreed. He said that they should be set up at locations that will attract young, good faculty, and address the “two body problem.” Explaining the problem, he added that the location should allow the appointed faculty member and his or her spouse pursue their respective careers.

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