Is the education system being followed in India, appropriate for India ?
Though this topic is not directly connected to technology but it has serious impact on technology as well as on nation hence it is quite important and logical to talk and discuss about it.
Because far from being the best it is much closer to being the worst!
The course material being taught has no relevance to the person and does not prepare him for any vocation directly.
After becoming an Engineer, a civil engineer can’t construct his house, a mechanical engineer can’t do simple repair of his car, electrical engineer won’t be able to repair a mixer in the kitchen etc.
Finance MBAs won’t be able to file their simple personal IT return.
We are just producing degree holders who are expert at mugging up things or they are good at solving some problems which have no relevance to life.
The highly educated with sharp minded MBAs are not able to start any business. 99% of them look for a company to provide work to them.
Sometimes I wonder, is there anything outstanding or even good in our system!
We may have people succeeding, more in spite of this rotten education system, than because of it.
The primary education is in a mess. Even the poor are forced to send their children to small private schools in villages.
My house help from Bihar sends his two children to an English school paying 4000 per month instead of sending them to free Govt school.
A Govt teacher draws a salary of some 70000 per month while the private teacher produces better results getting only 7000 per month.
In city of Mumbai Govt schools are closing down for want of students.
When I think of the education system in India, I get depressed. We are a product of second or third rate institutions. If we have succeeded, it is because of out own efforts and in spite of getting a useless education.
The 5 years I spent to become an engineer prepared me for nothing except getting a job.
The two years I spent in a premier MBA institution like XLRI, gave me no training to start a business.
The one year I spent at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, hardly prepared me to be an exporter or importer.
Much has to change to make education relevant.
The Govt spends 2000-3000 per child per month who is studying in a Govt schools.
Most of the money is used up in paying 7 th pay commission salaries to the Teachers who have no motivation to teach.
Instead of spending 2000-3000 on each child I would give a coupon of INR 1000 per month per child to BPL families.
All they have to do is give the coupon to any Govt recognized Pvt or Govt school.
So many private hard working schools will come up.
We talk of our universities being not at par with world class universities like Harvard, Stanford etc
Those people have no idea how much money it takes to build and run a Harvard.
Harvard has a corpus of 40 Billion dollars. Yes right, 40 billion dollars or 3 lakh crores. Stanford has some 2 lakh crores.
Our most prestigious Institute, IIM Ahmedabad for first time in history, started an ENDOWMENT FUND. Their target 100 crores or 14 Million USD this year and 1000 crores in 5 years. I was part of XLRI ENDOWMENT FUND core committee and we targeted to raise 50 Crores in 2010. I know how difficult it was to raise money.
First of all we have to use our money very wisely.
Education has to lead to a skill and a job.
Education has to be connected to Industry.
A lot can be done.
Our education system is actually destroying so many people’s career.
In future at some time I would love to share what can be done to make it relevant.
Currently the best of our institutions are supporting brain drain.
