The state of affairs in our educational institutes

Newspaper reports reveal that the much hyped National Institute of Technology in Goa had shortlisted 52 candidates at the end of the third round of admissions, of which 5 students including 4 Goans did not show interest in taking admission.

There exist 90 seats for admission of which fifty percent are reserved for Goans and for candidates from Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli; of these only 29 seats have been admitted from Goa.

Only 47 students have been admitted and they include 29 Goan students, 6 from Dadra and Nagar Haveli, one each from Daman and Lakshadweep islands, and 10 from rest of India. Furthermore, the 29 Goan students comprise of 16 students from Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes, while 13 are from the general category.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development had allocated an annual intake of 90 students to NIT-Goa from last year, comprising of 30 students each in the B Tech programs namely Computer Science and Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering, and Electrical and Electronics Engineering. In addition, 6 seats have been allocated under the Direct Admission for Students Abroad (DASA) scheme.

This does not auger well for the State. The National Institute of Technology in the country are held at par with the Indian Institutes of Technology and it was expected that establishment of a world class education institute in the State would raise the standards of education.

But, as the adage goes, sheep in tigers skin does not a tiger make. The education system in the state is controlled by matriculates and a bunch of these decide what is good for the state. The debate on the medium of instruction to be followed by our schools is carried out by non-academicians.

We don’t get to read the opinions of our academicians and researchers; newspapers are full of opinions of our politicians and budding politicians who have very poor academic record. Editorials and newspaper write ups are by columnists who talk of medium of instruction in the same breath as they do of the 2G scam and Kalmadi.

When are the right people going to talk? When are the right people going to decide on education issues?

Only then can we really be proud of our institutions.