The challenge flagged by IIT placements. 

Campus placement processes in the IITs and other technical universities are highly anticipated events for most students graduating from these institutes. They have traditionally been seen as launchpads for careers that are fulfilling and lucrative. The success rate of graduates from the country’s top technical institutes is also closely watched by knowledge economy specialists and job market experts. That’s why the government should conduct a threadbare analysis of the data it provided to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports. In its report, the Committee headed by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh notes an “unusual decline” in placements in IITs between 2021-22 and 2023-24. Barring IIT BHU, 22 of the 23 IITs have seen a drop in placements.

Placements, as the Standing Committee rightly points out, are highly dependent on market trends. It’s also correct that a section of IIT students have a history of gravitating towards careers unrelated to their academic qualifications — the bureaucracy, for instance. However, the Committee’s conclusion that the decline “could be for various reasons… like students opting for higher education or pursuing start-up ventures” should be compared with the data on students showing up for the campus placement processes. These figures show that in all IITs, other than the one in Tirupati, the number of students showing up for campus placements has gone up. It appears that the increasing number of engineering graduates has heightened the competition at these events. The Standing Committee’s data should also be compared with the figures for 2021-2022, when there was a spike in placement percentages. This was largely due to a recovery in the job market after the Covid pandemic. But campus placements came down in 2022-23 and they fell further the following year. Reports and anecdotal evidence indicate that the global economic slowdown has compelled companies to cut down on hiring and scale down salary packages. In fact, as reported by this newspaper on March 28, participants at the Candidates Open House for the PM Internship Scheme organised last week by the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs also talked of fewer openings in the IT sector. The IITs have reportedly reached out to alumni networks to help the graduating students navigate the challenging job market. Concerns over falling placements of students from the country’s top technical institutions should also inform the government’s plans for the economy, especially its entrepreneurial programmes such as Make In India.

In the past, the IITs were, by and large, exempted from the industry’s criticism that the country’s engineering graduates lack employability skills. However, educational planners cannot afford to ignore that the rapid evolution of technology requires even the country’s top institutions to upscale their curricula. As the Parliamentary Standing Committee has suggested, they will “need to find ways to enhance employability”. The Committee’s report should push the government to join dots and make connections — between the job market, skills and the broader economy.