rethinking the mother of all exams

by MaxEntropy_Man Sun Feb 05, 2012 1:04 pm

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/world/asia/02iht-letter02.html?_r=1&ref=india

by chameli Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:28 pm

IITians are truly geniuses and their examination a test of their intelligence .

I hope the exam and the candidates stay around forever

We have a lady IIT in our family ..it didnt help that she is also pretty proved formidable to many young men aspiring for her hand

by Marathadi-Saamiyaar Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:44 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/world/asia/02iht-letter02.html?_r=1&ref=india

**********
The I.I.T.’s were never great centers of learning by world standards.

Rather, they were museums that collected young Indians with excellent quantitative abilities.
**********

This is what I have been saying all along. Now, the alumni is doing everything they can to keep the same old tradition as it will help keep their prestige.

Time to have ONE entrance exam all across India. Such an exam and its results will help improve the different school systems and regional imbalances in high school education.

The vested interests are sure to put roadblocks.

by MaxEntropy_Man Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:54 pm

வந்தியா வா மவனே வா!

uppili -- don't be an ass. do you go to alumni meetings? i agree there is a lot that can be improved at the institutes, but you have a completely warped view of alumni intentions. keeping status quo is not what alumni want.

by Marathadi-Saamiyaar Sun Feb 05, 2012 7:35 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:வந்தியா வா மவனே வா!

uppili -- don't be an ass. do you go to alumni meetings? i agree there is a lot that can be improved at the institutes, but you have a completely warped view of alumni intentions. keeping status quo is not what alumni want.

Instead of going to these once a year Alumni meetings, one can meet many on a daily basis personally.

Just google "IIT alumni against reservation", "IIT alumni against new IITs" and "IIT alumni against dropping JEE" and so on... and find many many links....(I just googled).

It is well established fact that the IIT alumni will want to do anything to maintain their "superior" status and uniqueness of their institutes (not that there is anything wrong with that - the IVy leaguers do that as well).

by MaxEntropy_Man Sun Feb 05, 2012 8:21 pm

the ones who want to maintain status quo are not the ones having a direct impact on education and research at the institutes. anybody can say what they want on the internet. the important things are the actual changes occurring. and the people who are influencing these changes are alumni donating research dollars and alumni who have become faculty at american universities. these are people who want to see long needed real changes that will hopefully make the institutes move towards excellence in research. there are a lot of young people making the choice to go back after their ph.d's (i wish i was young enough to make this decision). LOTS. and fortune 500 companies are putting in massive amounts of research funding (man i wish i had access to that money!), and sending their own technical people to train young students in the hope that they'll be able to hire some of these people. it will take time to see the fruits of these changes, but surely they are happening. and believe me i am not being defensive. these are on the ground changes that i am witness to.

by Marathadi-Saamiyaar Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:00 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:the ones who want to maintain status quo are not the ones having a direct impact on education and research at the institutes. anybody can say what they want on the internet. the important things are the actual changes occurring. and the people who are influencing these changes are alumni donating research dollars and alumni who have become faculty at american universities. these are people who want to see long needed real changes that will hopefully make the institutes move towards excellence in research. there are a lot of young people making the choice to go back after their ph.d's (i wish i was young enough to make this decision). LOTS. and fortune 500 companies are putting in massive amounts of research funding (man i wish i had access to that money!), and sending their own technical people to train young students in the hope that they'll be able to hire some of these people. it will take time to see the fruits of these changes, but surely they are happening. and believe me i am not being defensive. these are on the ground changes that i am witness to.

Hm..spoken like a loyal Alumnus and repeating whatever the directors say on their tours to US. Whatever you said is true TO SOME EXTENT and the outcomes are not what you would think. LOTS of young PhDs are going back ? yeah rite... I saw those reports too and checked out the names of those who went back...U new Mexico, Florida Atlantic, etc...graduates ? rite. These are not the ones with PhDs from the Purdues, MITs, or Cornells and Stanfords. some of these returnees worked as post docs - and we know why they do Post-docs, that too not at grea labs. Nothing wrong with these guys and many might shine like North Stars in the future. But, your post seemed like a cut/paste from one of the director's speeches.

Of course, there are other cases.... and the funding and research money into IITs are another matter and that will be for next week.

The fact of the matter is maintaining status quo (with of course cosmetic changes to demonstrate "progress") is advantageous to many people.

by MulaiAzhagi Sun Feb 05, 2012 9:56 pm

The circumstances of the nation have changed, and the smartest Indians do not need an engineering degree to find a place in the world or to make a decent living.

===> Absolutely true.

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