Two final-year IIT-Delhi students dying by suicide and another attempting to end her life, all in a span of two months and all three on extended degrees from the same department — Mathematics and Computing – has left not just the students, but even the institute, in shock.
Students believe that after Ayush Ashna’s loss, Anil Kumar could have been saved had IIT-Delhi authorities enquired into the department’s functioning and heeded to concerns raised by them. They have prepared a document of demands and suggestions to change the existing scenario to be discussed in the class committee, News18 has learnt.
According to the document prepared by B.Tech students pursuing Mathematics and Computing, some of the major demands include parity in grading of same courses by different faculty, fixing accountability of teachers if 70%-80% of the class fails a course, increase credits for most MTL courses, MTP, BTP (research projects) to be allotted based on choice instead of CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) and a panel where students can report specific problems being faced from a faculty member, among others. MTL, MTD etc. denote course codes for the department.
“Disparity in grading of same courses by different professors is beyond explanation. Need for some standardisation… Despite 80% batch failed in MTL180 in 3rd semester, same professor is allotted in the next semester also and no action has been taken by the department. Not able to understand why department is waiting for more cases to happen like the recent ones. Most of the degree extends are due to this reason,” the document read.
The document further stated that in most MTL courses, there are no assignments/quizzes which makes it tough to pass the course. There should be at least 10-15 marks assignment in every course, students say. “Having courses where only the major and minor have weightages (like MTL107 during Covid with a 30/70 split or MTL180 with a 40/60 split) leaves everything up to two exams, which increases stress and the workload. If someone is not able to perform in either of the exams, just passing also becomes very hard,” the document said.
In the third year, while students in other departments are doing internships, Maths department students are more occupied with just passing the exam and covering the course content, students said.
A faculty member from the department, requesting anonymity, said: “Unlike other departments, Maths has more theory. Many times, before opting for the discipline, students do not understand that is more of pure mathematics and doesn’t have many practicals as such like electrical or mechanical engineering. It is crucial for the institute to ensure students in the first year are guided well to suitable disciplines instead of just going by the rank. There are orientation sessions in the first year for the same, which could, however, be made more one-on-one to guide students better.”
Both Ayush and Anil were from the 2019 BTech in Maths and Computing batch. The first incident was reported on July 10 while the second on September 1. Both students belonged to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community. While IIT-Delhi has not responded to a query seeking confirmation on a suicide attempt by another student from the same department in between the two incidents, batch-mates said that this was another warning sign that was ignored by the institute’s administration.
An IIT spokesperson refused to comment, saying that the institute is extremely saddened and shocked by the untimely demise of its students.
After the second incident on campus, students demanded reforms such as academic moderation and a more stress-free environment in an open house for undergraduate students that was addressed by the institute’s director, Prof Rangan Banerjee, on September 3.
“During the open house, students across departments asked for several reforms for improving the whole system under which academic moderation is the top priority. We work in association with student counselling services and the SC/ST cell. Besides, we are also working on building student communities in each hostel, the details of which are being worked out at the moment. Also, we planned an awareness drive with a hostel-to-hostel level talk with counsellors,” said a students’ body head on campus, who didn’t wish to be named.
The two deceased students and the one who reportedly attempted suicide were doing a summer course, which is a six months’ extension given to complete degrees to students who are not able to complete their credits in due time. According to students from the batch, at least 70-80 students from the Maths and Computing department are on extension degrees every year, which is an extremely high number, as compared to other departments where such cases are fewer. Not being able to complete their degrees and being left behind while others graduated was the common factor cited by students and faculty with respect to the two suicides reported.
The Batch That Battled The Pandemic And More
News18 spoke to students from the batch, some of who are in the process of completing their degrees as well as others who graduated this year. Students highlighted that this was the 2019 batch, which saw two years of the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting their initial years of college life, with students belonging to remote areas or marginalised backgrounds battling issues like poor connectivity, getting notes in time and other financial pressures.
They also pointed out that teachers did not necessarily care for the conditions a student might be in or even in ensuring that the course content reaches all, which is where some students struggled to cope initially.
A batchmate, who just graduated from the institute, said Ayush was like any other student, bright with a huge interest in coding. “He would ask questions in class and always made an effort on his own to reach out to the teacher with queries. He was into coding. It never was the case that he was off or withdrawn. If given a chance to sit through the placements, he would have bagged a good offer, but the institute doesn’t allow students with extended degrees to sit for placements the same year. This is despite the fact that for most recruiters, your credits or degree completion don’t matter, they just want to see your aptitude,” he said, requesting anonymity.
He added that changing this rule and allowing those even on extension to sit for placements can help boost their morale. This, he said, can be done as in any case the companies conduct their own exam and interview to know the candidate’s skills. “Most students on extended degrees tend to feel left behind during the placements season and lose the confidence to move on. More so, for many students from reserved communities, the pressure is much higher, as they are under this guilt of not being able to complete their graduation in due time while their parents have taken loans to make them study at an IIT. There is an extra burden of paying the hostel and mess fee for the extended six months. They just come under too much pressure and break down,” he said.
Fixing Accountability
Teachers, students said, are not always helpful, at least not in this department. Even though at least 70-80 students from this department are on extended degrees every year, there has been no move to enquire into its functioning. “I was once told by a professor to just go and study and not waste his time when I went to him seeking help. There is a particular course in the third semester, MTL-180, which 80% of the students in a batch of 160 failed,” said a student.
“If 80% of the class is failing a course, there has to be some accountability to be fixed for the teachers as well. It cannot be that all students are not able to follow. But there are teachers in this department who take pride in failing their students and showing how tough the course is to the extent of stating it to the class that they failed 60% of their senior batch. This is just not acceptable. All of this was raised with the right authorities, but nobody paid heed to know what was wrong with the department,” said another student.
Maths is something you build upon, if you fail one course, which is a pre-requisite for another course in the next semester, it starts a chain of failure and many feel they have been trapped in it, students said.
“This has happened in the case of many students. First it was Ayush, then another student who attempted to take their life and then Anil, who could have been saved, if the administration had taken serious attempts to find out the cause or listened to students’ complaints with some degree of trust. Faculty needs to be sensitised much more than what is the case at present,” said a student pursuing an extended degree from the department.
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