Sibal allays fears of faculty exodus from IITs

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday sought to dispel fears about faculties of Indian Institutes of Technology joining foreign institutes after they set shop in India, saying the teachers are "patriotic" enough not to sell their conscience for a little bit of money.

"Had it been the case, IIT teachers would have been picked up by the elite Stanford and Harvard universities even today. But none have gone," Sibal said at an international education seminar in New Delhi.

The attrition rate in IITs is "zero", he said.

"This is because the opportunities and benefits available in IITs cannot be matched anywhere else," Sibal said to a question that the foreign institutions may offer fat packages and poach faculty from IITs and Indian Institutes of Management.

"I know my faculty is patriotic and passionate about India and I know my faculty will not sell their conscience for a little bit of money," he asserted.

Sibal said faculty in IITs and IIMs get good exposure which may not be available in other institutions.

"The kind of conferences and exposure you get at the international level, you won't get in a private university, foreign or otherwise. You even can do independent consultants and earn money," he said at the seminar organised by Assocham.

On concerns that foreign institutions may compromise with quality, Sibal said they will be subjected to the same accreditation and assessment norms as domestic institutions.

"Foreign institutes will be subjected to the same laws as IITs and other institutes here abide to. The law does not allow any discrimination," he said.

He made it clear if foreign institutes collaborate with state educational institutions, they will be subjected to the same law as applicable to state educational institutions.

Similar laws will be followed in case of collaboration between such institutes and central universities.