Indian Institute of Technology: this brand stands for excellence. Closely followed by great expectations and sheer performance, IIT has lived up to its name in India and to a considerable extent at the global level. The key factor, leveraging these phenomena lies ‘in’ the graduates the IITs churn out. On these grounds and more, the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar has taken an extremely bold yet humble initiative that will give rise to one of the most trustworthy and honourable graduates, over and above other qualities.
The students of IIT Gandhinagar, backed by the full support and co-operation of the faculty, have moved on to being able to give examinations without the presence of invigilators in the room. Ten minutes at the beginning, in the mid section and in the end of the examination is the only time when the concerned professor is present. It began as a small experiment on the 2nd year Electrical students, whose success spread like fire. Importantly, the feedback from the students was that of negligible use of dishonest means. Soon we were giving mid semester exams on our own. Having grown up in the midst of the JEE and the cut throat competition it offers, fulfilling the needs of this self assigned task is definitely a commendable job.
Some might say it is foolish and idealistic, but I’d like to question the very existence of invigilation. Why should you have anyone (but yourself) hover over your overworked minds to check for unfair means? I’d say otherwise, only if one cannot control the urge to cheat as an individual, or one’s intentions have been dishonest right from the beginning. It is a question of honouring the trust and more importantly the responsibility vested in you. It is a question of being true to yourself and your companions, while proving your integrity and accountability as the member of a larger group. Times when these are the most sought after traits are not scarce, and the only way one can attain these is through self assessment and self restraint. The learning through these experiments at IIT will be with us forever.
Being an integral part of the change, I felt extremely relaxed during the exam where the absence of a watchdog had really eased the tension in the room. Another factor sparking off this practice at IIT Gandhinagar is that Asian students are looked down upon outside Asia, only for one reason: being unsure of their integrity. It was through personal experience of an Indian professor, presently at IIT Gandhinagar, that this fact was shamefully realized abroad, wherein an examination had to be retaken by his colleague as some Asian (also Indian) students had broken the honour code. Having to hear such news about your country mates forces me to lower my head in shame. It is imperative to change this image on the global front, not just for you or me, but for India as a whole. The change needs occur somewhere, sometime! Indian history talks about M.K.Gandhi’s principle of Swaraj, one of the very basis on which the freedom movement was lead. It is the same concept of self rule that we should employ on our own, growing out of that tarnished image and drawing a new improved one of our own! It is with great pride and confidence, that a large part of the IIT Gandhinagar community has successfully undergone the change, with more members joining in everyday. As time passes, the practice will spread to other institutes as well, hopefully someday to the entire country.
What are exams and tests for? I think they’re to test and assess YOU in the concerned field. I will restate that it is completely pointless and utterly shameful if YOU are not able to complete the test honestly and honourably. Most people KNOW this, but sadly most people DO NOT REALIZE this. Are you not enough to keep a check on yourself willingly? Or is your entire existence so hollow that you need an external agent to keep a check on you?
