More Than Half Of Dropouts At 7 IITs Are From Reserved Categories: Centre

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The Logical Indian Crew

More Than Half Of Dropouts At 7 IITs Are From Reserved Categories: Centre

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told the Rajya Sabha that the dropouts were “mainly on account of securing seat in other departments or institutions of students choice or on any other personal ground”.

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According to the Education Ministry data, almost 63 per cent of the undergraduate dropouts at the top seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) over the last five years are from the reserved categories. The ministry was furnishing data in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, August 5.

Almost 40 per cent were from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities. In some centres, the SC/ST share was as high as 72 per cent, reported The Hindu.

'Most Of Those Dropping Out From Disadvantaged Group'

This data reflects on how those who drop out of these elite courses disproportionately belong to the disadvantaged groups, given that only half the undergraduate intake in the IITs are from reserved categories, while about 23 per cent are from the SC/ST communities.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told the House that the dropouts were "mainly on account of securing seat in other departments or institutions of students choice or on any other personal ground".

Pradhan was responding to a question from Kerala MP V Sivadasan regarding undergraduate dropouts at all centrally-funded technical institutions, the variance seen across social categories, and the measures taken to address it.

The minister pointed out "fee reductions, institute scholarships, priority access to national-level scholarships to aid students with poor financial backgrounds to pursue their education" among the steps taken to prevent dropouts.

Which Institutes Have The Worst Dropout Rates?

IIT Guwahati holds the worst record, with 88 per cent of its 25 dropouts hailing from the reserved categories. Almost three-fourths of all dropouts are from the SC/ST communities, although they make up less than a quarter of the students.

In IIT Delhi, of the 10 students who dropped out of the centre in 2018, all were from the reserved categories.

IIT Madras has had only10 dropouts over the last five years. But out of the 10, six of them have been SC/ST students, while another was from the other backward class community. Overall, 70 per cent of the institution's dropouts were from the reserved categories

IIT Kharagpur has had the highest number of dropouts, with 79 students leaving the institution over the last five years. More than 60 per cent are from the reserved categories.

Also Read: Bihar: Daily Wage Worker Dies After Being Pushed From Moving Bus For Not Paying Fare

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Writer : Madhusree Goswami
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Editor : Palak Agrawal
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