At least 9 percent IITians dropped out in 2016-17
According to latest data released by the HRD ministry, IITs have seen about 9% students (889) dropping out in the 2016-17 academic year. Of the students who dropped out, nearly 71% (630) were postgraduate students, 196 PhD scholars and 63 undergraduates. There has been an increase of 35% over the figures from 2015-16 wherein 656 students dropped out of the 23 IITs.
HRD Ministry cites placement offers, personal preference as dropout reasons
The HRD Ministry cited the main reason behind dropping-out as better opportunities and placement offers in public sector enterprises, especially for PhD and postgraduate students. For the undergraduates, the ministry stated that wrong choices and poor performance, besides personal reasons as the grounds for leaving the premier institute. Most dropouts were from IIT-Roorkee, followed by Delhi, Kanpur and Kharagpur.
Shortage of faculty, HRD data reveals
The HRD Ministry raised concern over the shortage of faculty in the premier institute. As of July 17 this year, 35% of faculty posts in the IITs remained vacant. To combat with this problem, the ministry has decided to allow faculty working under central government or central autonomous bodies to join IITs.
Is that another dropout reason? IITs report students' death
At least eight deaths were reported from six IITs during this 2016-17 academic year. While four of these deaths were unnatural the other four were accidental. Three unnatural deaths were reported from IIT-Kharagpur while one student committed suicide at IIT-Varanasi. IIT-Madras and Roorkee reported an accident each while two other students drowned in a river.
