Only because they cannot think of any other way.

In a scathing article, S Deb writes about "a deep malaise that has been affecting millions of families over the past two decades and more". "This is the widespread insane belief among the India middle class that getting into an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) is a ticket to paradise on earth." Apparently in the 1980s many students rejected IIT for the joy of studying pure science. That maybe because there were few good jobs for engineers as "industry's performance was the worst during (Indira ) Gandhi's tenure". "In terms of per capita incomes, India started lagging behind China and southeast Asia when Gandhi was at the helm of affairs." In fact, in the 1980s, India was hurtling towards a balance of payments crisis that was averted by pledging 67 tons of our gold reserves to avoid defaulting on our loans. Now there are opportunities of being "hired by Amazon/Facebook/whatever at $200,000 a year, with US postings". Not just Indians, "Nearly 50 people, including actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loghlin were charged on Tuesday in what Federal authorities say was a $25 million scam to help wealthy Americans get their children into elite universities like Yale and Stanford." In 2015, a study in the UK reported that "wealthier parents were using their resources and influence to give their children an unfair advantage", including "finding them unpaid internships, using their social networks to form advantageous connections and ensuring they are able to access better education". The middle class in the US has been accused of 'hoarding dreams' in a book by Richard Reeves. An IIT professor told Deb how most of his students were unhappy to be there. Perhaps, if you ask people a large number of them will confess to hating their jobs. "What the media does not report is that the median salary of a fresh IIT graduate is around Rs 8-10 lakh a year, and that even in the top IITs, at least 15-20% students do not get jobs on campus," wrote Deb. That is because there were 5 IITs in the 1980s but now there are 23. There is only one Harvard, Yale, Oxford or Cambridge but if you treat IIT as a brand, like washing powder, it will become cheap. In India, unemployment level is highest among graduates. "Graduate+ women face a punishing 35 percent unemployment rate." "The unemployment rate for graduate+ men was much lower at 10 percent," a report said. Those with engineering degree from colleges other than IITs are struggling to earn Rs 5000 per month. It is sad that some students commit suicide because they are unable to cope. More than 20 children committed suicide for failing their board exams in Telengana because of a mistake in marking their papers. Parents push their children because they know how hostile India is and not because they "want to achieve their failed ambitions through their children". Does Deb agree that hard work is better than a degree from Harvard?