13 thousand SC/ST and OBC students left IIT and IIM in 5 years, is caste discrimination the reason?
The government is running many scholarships and schemes to increase the number of reserved category students in higher education, but students from SC, ST and OBC categories have dropped out!
Published on: 06 Dec 2023, 4:55 pm
New Delhi. On the morning of July 9, 2023, the body of a student was found hanging from the fan in Udayagiri Hostel of IIT, Delhi. Around 23-year-old Ayush Asana was a fourth year engineering student. He came from Dalit class. The reason behind the suicide has not been made public yet. His classmates say that he was living under mental stress for the last several days. The police statement is that the police did not find any suicide note. Similarly, at the beginning of the year, IIT Bombay student Darshan Solanki also committed suicide. The family members had alleged caste discrimination. In this case, police action was also taken against the student.
Here, on last Monday, Union Minister of State for Education Subhash Sarkar, in response to a written question in the Lok Sabha, informed that in the last five years, the number of students studying in other central universities including IITs and IIMs has increased. More than 13000 students of SC, ST and OBC categories have left studies. After this information became public, the question being asked is whether the students of Bahujan community are forced to leave their studies midway due to caste discrimination in higher institutions?
In response to this question, Madhusudan, a social worker from Odisha and an alumnus of IIT Roorkee, says that caste discrimination starts with reserved category students from the very first day. Usually, fellow students ask him about his JEE rank. After this, reserved students with lower ranks start being called by a special name. They are sidelined.
Students coming from ordinary backgrounds do not have command over the English language. Due to this, even the professors coming from the upper caste community do not pay much attention to them. The tension increases due to competition and lack of attention from the professor. This is a major reason due to which the drop out rate of students of this category is high. Apart from this, there are many other reasons due to which students leave their studies midway.
BSP MP Ritesh Pandey had asked the question
In response to a question asked in the Lok Sabha during the winter session, the Minister of State said that in the last five years, 4,596 OBC, 2,424 SC and 2,622 ST students studying in central universities left their studies. Of these, 2,066 OBC, 1,068 SC and 408 ST students left studies within the IITs. Similarly, 2,066 OBC, 1,068 SC and 408 ST students studying in IIT left their studies. Whereas 163 OBCA, 188 SC and 91 ST students studying in IIM left their studies. In this way, 13,626 reserved category students studying in central universities, IITs and IIMs had to leave their studies in the last five years.
Government does not have data of National Law University
According to media reports, the government said that National Law Universities have been established under the relevant Acts. State legislatures make them state universities. According to the report, the government said that it does not have any data on the dropout students of National Law Universities.
Government is running many schemes for poor students
The State Education Minister said that the government has taken several steps to help poor students from weaker economic backgrounds pursue higher studies by reducing fees, setting up more institutes, scholarships and ensuring their access to national level scholarships. He said that there are also schemes like tuition fee waiver in IITs and National Scholarship under Central Sector Scheme for SC/ST students.
what experts say
According to media reports, former Chairman of All India Council for Technical Education SS Mantha and former Education Secretary of Government of India Ashok Thakur had written an article for the Indian Express in April 2023 regarding the dropout rate of students in higher education.
Describing the current education system as stressful, Mantha and Thakur have written that our colleges and universities are under pressure for education and placement. There is pressure on students to succeed. Add to this many other factors that ultimately force students to drop out of studies. Dropping out may be an individual issue, but if such a large number of students are dropping out, the reasons should be reviewed. We should think about what changes are needed so that students do not leave their course midway.
Both further write – For this to happen, our universities and colleges will have to introspect. The journey of a student in a higher educational institution is not easy. What must our management, faculty and staff do to retain a student? This should be discussed seriously. Students need time to adjust to college life, especially in the first year. But many drop out before they can appreciate the value of their newfound freedom and the many possibilities of campus life. Research on higher education confirms that only 50 percent of students reach graduation without a massive backlog from previous years.
