MUMBAI: The policy of sending biweekly attendance records of first-year students to their parents, implemented only last year at the premier IIT-Bombay, may curb the sense of freedom they expect in college, which is also part of their overall development, mentioned one of the many observations made by the institute’s students’ magazine, Insight, in their latest article. Parents may not have sufficient context about the academic culture in an institution like IIT and might compare it to school or coaching routine, they say. Therefore, ‘a student may feel unnecessary pressure and restricted freedom…’ the article noted.
The policy was introduced based on one of the many recommendations of the Academic Stress Mitigation Committee (ASMC) last year. The committee was set up to recommend measures that can help reduce stress among students, especially those in the first year. The committee had noted that attending classes helped in establishing routine and instilling discipline and that missing classes may be an early sign that a student is struggling to integrate into the IIT system.
While the article agrees with the institute’s point of view, it also added that students may prefer other methods of studying, including online platforms such as the institute’s own platform, YouTube, or books, which may provide them with better understanding and flexibility in learning. It mentioned that ‘recording and sending the attendance may urge students to attend classes, which may limit their freedom to choose their preferred learning methods’.
While Director Shireesh Kedare did not comment on the attendance policy, he said that the main challenge, the institute believes, is how to make the teaching-learning process more exciting. “We want to bring in reforms that could help students to get excited about learning. We are working on possible solutions and we are taking inputs from our students, faculty, and even our alumni. We have been working on this for the last five months,” said Kedare, adding that the attendance issue could be just one of the symptoms of this root problem.
