Talent not a numbers game

In the wake of exceptional talents being rejected by premier institutes for being physically challenged, homeschooled and taking online courses, isn’t it high time for the admission criteria to be changed

The Indian education system found itself in the midst of a controversy earlier this week. Seventeen-year-old Malvika Raj Joshi was accepted into the prestigious Massachusets Institute of Technology (MIT) without having Class 10 or 12 certificates. These educational credentials, which are otherwise considered mandatory to apply into celebrated institutions, hardly counted for the teen. She is a three-time medal winner (two silver and a bronze) at International Olympiad of Informatics, commonly known as the Programming Olympiad.

It was said that IIT rejected her admission due to lack of certificates, something that the Malvika’s mother vehemently denies. However, this isn’t a new instance. Previously, Srikant Bolla, who is visually impaired, was rejected by IIT but got into MIT and then became a successful entrepreneur. Rules and marks decide talent for many premier institutes and those who don’t fit the criteria are shown the door. The question on many a mind is—What can be done to change this attitude

Srikanth Bolla has an answer: “MIT tears you into pieces and rebuilds you; physical impairments don’t matter to them as they focus more on your talent and your urge to come up in life. That is what our institutes should also look at. Instead of judging students based on an exam, they should have multi-level tests.”

The selection process in IITs is based on the marks obtained in Higher Secondary examinations. Avinash Mahajan, Associate Dean, Academic Programmes, IIT-Mumbai, defends the current system. He says, “In the past, we have not had cases where we have had to admit students without prerequisites. This criterion is basic. In fact, even home-schooled students can appear for the examination and get a certificate.”

Another problem lies with the number of applicants since roughly half a million appear for IIT entrance examination. “It is not possible to identify such talent in the current scheme of things. The moment you try to bend the rules for a particular case, there are chances that it will be misused. The current system is foolproof as you can’t get an IIT admission through a political connection. I am not against encouraging talent, but there should be a system in place,” says Navin Mittal, Finance Secretary, Government of Telangana, and an alumnus of the IIT-Delhi.

Taking in exceptional talents definitely needs to be taken into consideration, feels DK Nauriyal, the dean of student affairs at IIT-Roorkee. “The system in the US institutes is under constant scrutiny to bring in positive changes. Also, the job market in our country has certain pre-requisites and they may not accommodate such students. We definitely need to revise the norms, but the current rules only offer space for the average talent pool in the country,” he explains.

“With the growing number of massive open online courses (MOOCs), there are educational choices outside schools and colleges. Progressive universities should create practical ways to spot talent,” feels Anu Acharya, CEO of Mapmygenome and an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur.

Satish Madhira, also an IIT alumnus and founder of Zemoso Technologies, has what he believes, is a solution. He says, “MIT is privately-funded, while IITs and NITs are funded by public money. One possible way is to have certain seats (1-2 per cent) sponsored by corporates or private family funds. Those seats could be selected by eminent alumni based on the criteria to recognise exceptional talent.”