IITians opt to become gurus

Shruthi Balakrishna | TNN

Bangalore: Their days of sitting and listening are over. Now, they will do the talking. In a swift role reversal, a few IITians will be playing the role of lecturer, as a new bunch of students takes the seats.

Blame it on recession or a passion for teaching, a good number of IITians have grabbed teaching posts in various universities and institutions across the country.

These students are offered positions of assistant professor, associate professor, senior lecturer and lecturer. Though they admitted that the salary package is lower compared to MNCs, they feel teaching is “one of the most secure jobs”. According to information provided by the IITs, the salary is on a par with the UGC scales and above. A few said it varies between an average of Rs 3.4 lakh and Rs 9 lakh per annum.

Some students who have opted for teaching have had some experience. Like Akshita Srivastva, an MSc from IITRoorkee, was interested in teaching from the beginning and has also taught a few students when she was in Class X. After joining IIT, she wanted to pursue her passion. “My family was supportive of my decision. I will be teaching BTech students. As a teacher, I will be neither too strict nor too liberal,” she added.

Anil Kumar, an MTech from IIT-Bombay, too, has worked as lecturer in two colleges in Kota before. Offered the post of assistant professor in Lovely Professional University, he said that due to recession, not many big firms visited the campus.

Even as most students took the job as it’s a safe bet, some felt teaching would help them pursue research. As Sandip Majumdar, who is doing PhD at IIT-Kharagpur, puts it, “If I opt for teaching, I can pursue research. The salaries are low, but still teaching is interesting. Interacting with students is really exciting,” he said. Asked if he’ll consider an offer in a company, he added: “If the company is good, I’ll consider moving, else I’ll stick to teaching.”