In 5 years, more than 13 thousand Dalit-Tribal-Backward students left IIT-IIM, apart from caste discrimination, other reasons are responsible.
Posted on by Dalit Times
In the last five years, 4,596 OBC, 2,424 SC and 2,622 ST students left their studies in central universities, including within the IITs, 2,066 OBC, 1,068 SC and 408 ST students left their studies.
Higher education and SC/ST-OBC student dropout: Getting admission in higher educational institutions like IIT and IIM has become the dream of every student today, but the fees of these institutions are very high which is not possible for a student from a normal family. In such a situation, parents also work hard to fulfill the dreams of their children. Many times it has been seen that parents even mortgage their land for the admission of their children in these institutions, but in the last 5 years it has been seen that 13626 Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) And other backward class (OBC) students left IITs and IIMs.
The government itself has revealed the figures of such a large number of Dalit-backward-tribal students leaving higher educational institutions. In response to a question asked in the Lok Sabha during the winter session of 2023, Minister of State for Education Subhash Sarkar said in response to a question that in the last five years, 4,596 OBC, 2,424 SC and 2,622 ST students studying in central universities have left their studies. Gave. Of these, within the IITs, 2,066 OBC, 1,068 SC and 408 ST students dropped out.
Similarly, 2,066 OBC, 1,068 SC and 408 ST students studying in IITs left their studies, while 163 OBC, 188 SC and 91 ST students studying in IIMs 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.
In such a situation, the question arises that what could be the reason behind students leaving such educational institutions where getting admission is like a dream? Is the reason behind this caste discrimination or are there other reasons also, which are shattering the future of the students.
Some reasons for leaving higher education institutions
- It has been seen that general category students have to face financial problems. It is not possible for them to meet the tuition fees and spend their studies by living in the city. In such a situation, students find it difficult to pursue their courses and due to expensive fees, students are forced to leave educational institutions like IITs and IIMs.
- Most of the students from Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) face language related problem. Students leave educational institutions even when subjects are not available in the language of their choice.
- Professors from the upper caste community also discriminate against students from the general category and do not pay much attention to them. The tension increases due to the professor not paying attention. This is also a big 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.
What did IIT Roorkee alumnus Madhusudan say?
SC, ST and OBC category students also have to face caste discrimination and due to this students start living under stress. Due to stress, they start becoming alienated towards studies. In this case, Madhusudan, a social worker from Odisha and alumnus of IIT Roorkee, had also said that “caste discrimination starts with the 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.”
Such incidents of suicide which shocked humanity
If seen in today’s context, there are news in newspapers every day that students are committing suicide. Such incidents shake humanity. Such incidents create disappointment among students also.
- In February 2024, a student from Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh also committed suicide after appearing for the IIT exam due to fear of the exam results.
- Even in February 2023, a Dalit student of IIT Bombay committed suicide by jumping from the seventh floor of the hostel due to caste discrimination. In this case, the student’s family had also alleged that when their son’s friends came to know that his name was Darshan Solanki and he came from the Dalit community, they started discriminating against him. On the other hand, the student’s relatives had also alleged that when Darshan’s friends came to know that he was studying in a higher educational institution without paying huge fees, then Darshan’s friends had stopped talking to him.
What do the statistics say?
According to the data, at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), a total of 2,066 Other Backward Class (OBC), 1,068 Scheduled Caste (SC) and 408 Scheduled Tribe (ST) students withdrew their names. While within the “Indian Institute of Management” (IIM), a total of 163 students in OBC, 188 in SC and 91 in ST have withdrawn their names.
In fact, in December 2023, in response to a question by BSP member Ritesh Pandey in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Education Subhash Sarkar had provided the figures in a written reply. With regard to Central Universities (CUs), the government said a total of 4,596 OBC, 2,424 SC and 2,622 ST students have left their studies in the last five years.
