Academic stress one of the reasons behind high dropout rate from IITs and NITs

The number of students who have dropped out from IITs and NITs in the last three years amount to over 4,400 students, the government said on Wednesday, 5 August, and assured that corrective actions have been initiated. It also explained that 'academic stress' was one of the reasons behind the high dropout rate.

As many as 2,060 students dropped out from various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) from 2012-13 to 2014-15, Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani informed the Lok Sabha during Question Hour.

During this three-year period, 2,352 students dropped out from the National Institutes of Technology (NITs).

"The reasons for dropouts may be attributed to shifting to other colleges/institutions, personal reasons, medical reasons, getting jobs during PG courses, inability to cope with academic stress etc," Irani said in a written reply.

In 2014-15, IITs witnessed 757 dropouts which was higher than 697 dropouts (2013-14) and 606 (2012-13). During this period, IIT Roorkee saw the highest number of dropouts at 228, followed by IIT Kharagpur (209) and IIT Delhi (169).

Interestingly, there were no dropouts at IITs in Mandi, Jodhpur, Kanpur, Madras and Ropar during 2014-15 period.

There are 16 IITs and 30 NITs in the country.

Of the NITs, there were 717 dropouts in 2014-15, lower than 785 seen in the year-ago period. In 2012-13, the dropout numbers stood at 850.

Irani said there is a mechanism for helping students who are under stress. The government is committed to address issues related to academic stress, she added.

Listing out various initiatives that are in place to minimise dropouts at IITs, Irani said there is a guidance and counselling unit, headed by a faculty member. It works closely along with a number of faculty counsellors and advisors to "identify students facing emotional difficulties and guide them to professional counsellors for help".

-PTI