Admission mess: Where do meritorious students go?

Philanthropists or well-meaning government functionaries once set up educational institutions to provide good education to meritorious students. Innumerable talented children availed themselves of professional education with negligible and sometimes nil fees. Of course, a few rich and influential families could get their wards through the back door, but those were a minority.

Recent developments have highlighted how lakhs of students in a top college aspiring for medicine or engineering have been put into turmoil. Years of rigorous and expensive coaching have failed to get them that elusive seat, and they are also facing continuous anxiety of not knowing when and what their future holds.

Those who can afford have paid large sums of money to reputed colleges to get a ‘management’ seat. Many parents candidly admit they paid large sums to ‘block’ a seat in a college of their choice months ago, even before the Class 12 results were out. They were cautioned that they might have to pay more if their ward did not get high marks in the Board exam. On the other hand, there have been cases where the entire amount has not been refunded if they opted for admission elsewhere.

The ratio of available seats versus total number of candidates is mind-boggling. Yet, innumerable families struggle to get into these supposedly lucrative and ‘safe’ courses, which they think will ensure a bright career for their wards.

On the other hand, doctors who complete MBBS after five years of rigorous studies and clinical work do not get jobs unless they have a postgraduate specialisation degree—to enter into which there is again competition, coaching expenses, and no guarantee that they will get the specialization of their choice.

The scenario in engineering is worse. After all the intense competition and struggles, many seats in the not-so-reputed colleges and not-in-demand branches remain vacant. Campus recruitment, which has become the ultimate aim, has been steadily decreasing over the years, and this year, even IITs could not place all their students despite bringing down the minimum salary offer required from companies from Rs 6 lakh to 4 lakh. A 4 lakh CTC translates into about Rs 30,000 per month in hand, less than what cab drivers or Swiggy delivery boys get.

This year, almost 8,000 IIT graduates are reported to have been left unselected during campus placement. This does not include those who received offer letters last year but have still not been onboarded by the employing companies. The scenario in other engineering colleges is worse.

High fees do not mean quality

Some had secured admission through large payments, taken extensive coaching, and completed the course in earlier years. However, they struggled with many ‘backs’, i.e. failures in certain subjects that they had to clear through re-exams or even losing a year. Such students feel inadequate and look for additional expensive skill-based courses to make themselves employable or take up jobs that have nothing to do with their studies.

The root cause lies in the false and outdated belief that only certain professions or degrees ensure good salaries and careers. Even if this was true to some extent earlier, it is not so now. There are many lucrative alternatives to medicine and engineering, and perhaps even more pay if the candidate has a good aptitude for that field.

Because of herd mentality, some students and parents look for courses and colleges with a good campus recruitment record, believing there is good ‘scope’ in that path. They do not realise that the scope has changed over the years, whereas today’s students need to prepare for a work span of around 40-50 years.

The past few years saw many students drop out after Class 12 when they could not secure a seat, take a gap year, and spend it entirely on coaching to score better next time. Seeing the turmoil and uncertainty in the entrance procedure this year, many have decided to take whatever course or college is available based on their rank.

The other side of the picture is that a National Medical Commission Task Force in August this year found that 27% of MBBS students indicated having a diagnosed mental health disorder, 56% admitted that they are struggling to find a friend, and 16% disclosed having suicidal thoughts. A significant contributory factor is unduly high pressure, hours of ‘mugging up’ coupled with long hours of clinical work and loss of social skills.  

Let us accept that the stressors of examinations will not be reduced shortly. Still, we must ensure that quality of life, serenity and joy are more important than chasing the elusive seat in medicine or engineering. There are many excellent professional courses that are far easier to access.

Postscript: Someone rightly remarked, “Parents are so anxious about what career their child will take up, but the fact is that the career that he will take up has not been invented yet.”