Indian Institute of Information Technology, Srirangam (IIIT-S), has been closed down, and according to the management, it is because of the students. Apparently, students have been protesting ever since the institute was established in 2013 against the MHRD decision to make Anna University the mentor of IIIT-S
Back in 2014, the protests were simple and in the form of banners and post lecture sit-outs. However, in recent months, the students have intensified their stir and since last Friday, they have stopped attending lectures as well. According to the course coordinator of the institute, the management had no choice but to close down the institute as classrooms were flaunting empty seats. Students (except female students) have also been asked to vacate their hostel rooms and refrained from further protests inside the campus.
When asked about what is being done about the students’ primary request about change of mentorship, faculty at IIIT- S said that choosing a mentor is not in the hands of individual institutes.
“The institute does not have the power to choose a mentor, neither does it have the authority to recruit permanent faculty. It is the MHRD’s decision and it’s binding on the institute,” said Course Coordinator, Prof. G. Anna Poorani.
Besides the mentor issue, students were also posed with some other concerns like the campus being ill-equipped and the pedagogy standards not being followed well. “We had earlier presented a petition to the District Collector during the weekly grievances day meeting regarding our demands, but neither the State Government nor the Institute has responded to the petition,” says a student of the institute on the condition of anonymity.