Has Higher Education Failed India?

Abhishek {``This is perhaps due to the fact that a University teacher has no stake in the future of the students. His job is secure, his promotions secure and his pension all the more secure-so where does teaching come in.

Naturally, wealthy Indian students are taking recourse to migrating to the West for higher education.``}

Abhishek Sahib,
Very informative and interesting article. It has been abundantly clear that Indian (and of course Pakistani) universities, with the exception of the IITs, do not teach self-motivation, out-of-the-box thinking, and innovation. This is something that the hard-working and intelligent students have to learn on their own once they arrive in the west for higher education.

On a positive note, the excellence of written English that is imparted to Indian students is a definite asset for them when they study and work in US, Canada, UK, and Australia. In fact, I would go so far as to state that the English language is the single most important reason for India becoming an advanced and developed country. Pakistan, which inherited almost the same standard of English, has squandered its good fortune thanks to a misplaced emphasis on Islamiyat, Arabic, aboriginal languages, and of course Urdu.

#12 more evidence

http://www.siliconindia.com/shownewsdata.asp?newsno=31893

``BANGALORE: Infosys Technologies has set aside $360 million to invest in training and infrastructure for the year, during which it plans to hire 25,000 employees and increase office space by 50 percent.``

mr behl,
some of the private companies in india like reliance have done the smart thing and offer conitinuing education to rectify what is (not) taught in the university. e.g. they will hire a BSc and then put him thru 4 years of course-work tought by IIT and other quality professors, and he becomes a chemical engg, eligible for promotion. if you work for RCF (rastriya chemical and fertilizer) in same geographic area, same available talent pool, you sit on your butt and play identity politics in the office to get your promotion .. there is little incentive to work ethically. only way reliance petro will be as competative as rcf is when reliance is forced to have 50% quota.

Re: # 3
Mineguruji
I`m afraid I do not agree with you. I don`t remember seeing caste as one of the blanks to be filled in on the JEE form. Of course that was a century ago. You might say upper castes fill the IIT`s but on the flip side you could say it`s because the parents of these upper castes pushed their kids to study knowing this was one of the few ways to a relatively secure future. To blame it on the upper castes and elites , because they knew their onions is ridiculous.

Perhaps you`d like to see the IIT`s and IIM`s become as stagnant as the standard University systems in India.

I would suggest make primary education equally accessible to all and let the higher education be decided solely on merit.

Dear Author

What you have written is entirely true of indian education system in general. However, i have a few questions/comments:

a) When Macaulay introduced his system in India, was the education system in Britain very much different? Also, what was our own education system at that time?

b) Regarding the exodus of Indian students to western universities - how many of these students come back with an intention of settling down in India? Isn`t it true that they are just turning away from the country and not education system alone?

c) Does the rot begin in Universities? The rot begins at elementary school. It continues through middle and high school and when the student reaches college/university level, he is rock hardened into the ``cram/copy/paste/exam/pass/fail/percentage marks`` system. But almost everybody talks of only higher education. What about elementary/middle school?

d) Sadly, our government`s attitude towards education is clearly visible in how the education ministers are appointed. Generally, if you want to sidetrack a politician, but he has some clout that you can`t ignore, you make him education minister. Important and powerful politicians/groups get home/finance/foreign/defence/commerce etc. Education is not powerful ministery but respectable. So you get geriatrics like M M Joshi or Arjun Singh as education ministers, who then start fingering into wherever they can to broaden their base.

Thanks

Hinjras are aping the US public school system - which has been turned into a cesspool by politicians, political correctness and parents.......

Ref ballukhan #4

[My proposal-

Convert IIT Delhi exclusively for the SC/ST/OBC, staff it with only OBC /SC/ST and let them produce for the market.

Create IIT say at Patna only for General students..........let entry to it be only through `merit` evaluated in terms of skill sets and analytical power.........there would be no consideration for extrenous political considerations like religion/caste etc.............

finally you can then let the industry decide which one they want to recruit.......... ]

Just add one proviso.

All politicians, in particular Arjun Singh, VP Singh, the original Mandal, etc., cannot go abroad for medical treatment but will have to accept treatment from OBC/SC/ST doctors.

Ref ballukhan #4

[otherwise you can give then BTech`s and BE-s or MBBS FREE..............like rewaris to whatever caste as per the proportionate representation in the population......l ]

Well, universities already hand out free honoris causa PhDs/DLitt`s to politicians.

Our own Doctor Artist Leader the Fund of Compassion has one from Annamalai University.

Oops. I got to make that Doctor Artist Leader Chief Minister from now on! Asli-Masanamuthu will get upset if I don`t.

FYI...

List of fake universities (as on March 24, 2006)

1.
Maithili University/Vishwavidyalaya, Darbhanga, Bihar
2.
Mahila Gram Vidyapith/Vishwavidyalaya,(Women`s University) Prayag, Allahabad (UP)
3.
Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya,Varanasi (UP)Jagatpuri, Delhi
4.
Commercial University Ltd., Daryaganj, Delhi
5.
Indian Education Council of U.P., Lucknow(UP)
6.
Gandhi Hindi Vidyapith, Prayag, Allahabad (UP)
7.
National University of Electro Complex Homeopathy, Kanpur
8.
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose University (Open Univeristy), Achaltal,Aligarh (UP)
9.
D.D.B. Sanskrit University,Putur, Trichi, Tamil Nadu
10.
St. John`s University, Kishanttam, Kerala
11.
United Nations University, Delhi
12.
Vocational University, Delhi
13.
Uttar Pradesh Vishwavidyalaya, Kosi Kalan, Mathura (UP)
14.
Maharana Patap Shiksha Niketan Vishwavidyalaya, Pratapgarh (UP)
15.
Raja Arabic University, Nagpur
16.
Kesarwani Vidyapith, Jabalpur (M.P.)
17.
Badaganvi Sarkar World Open University Education Society, Gokak, Belgaum (Karnataka)
18.
ADR-Centric Juridical University, ADR House, 8J, Gopala Tower, 25 Rajendra Place, New Delhi-110008.
19.
Handwriting University India, No 16 Church Road, Basavaugudi,Bangalor-4
20.
Gurukul Vishwavidyalaya, Vrindawan (UP)
21.
The Institute of Para Medical Sciences, 37, Siv Sarovar Colony, Gadh Road, Meerut (UP)
22.
Bioinformatics Institute of India, New Delhi

quote:

reservations is a positive step being taken by the govt
IITs / IIMs for long have been the preserve of the rich-upper caste-class elite
these institutions begin to give entry to students from all sections of society

---

can u define ``all sections`` of the indian society?
quotas based on gender
50% male / 50% female

quotas based on religions
hindus 83% / muslims 13% / sikhs 1% / others 3%

quotas based on castes(within hindus)
50% + ?

quotas based on religional basis
north indians will get only 60% while south indians get only 40% of the quotas

quotas based on economic status
based on annual income basis,accumulated wealth,political power,position etc

---

one interesting point is that reserved category parents do not want their children to be taught by reserved category teachers !! they demand merit as customers !!

The big mafia that I see often is the Red Flag mafia stuffed in the Arts faculty of these Universities which is infested with the chamchas and relatives/sons of their comarade friends.
This Arts faculty mafia is the worst of the staff room politicians who are hardly interested in even completing their courses and are more interested in organizing for rallies and protests.
This Arts faculty mafia hates updation of the courses.........and ensures that no other course ever gets updated ..............
This Arts faculty mafia hates the technocrats, IIT-s, IIM-s and other institutes that impart professional and engineering skills simply because they see them catering to the capitalist system they so intensely desire to `overthrow`.
If you want to reform the universities, then you have to overthrow these Red mafiaso and ensure that they do not try and politicize everything that comes on their way............

As regards obfuscation of the term `merit` by these Red mafiaso...................how on the earth can you compare 20/100 with 90/100 in answering a paper on Mathematics. You cannot call the two grades `equally` meritorious.

If you want to give degrees to SC/ST/OBC-s then give them FREE.

Or, you create IIT exclusively for OBC or IIM-s exclusively for SC/ST.

But do not confuse every body else by saying that the two grades are equally `meritorious`.....this is called playing politics with `merit` which these red mafia are very adept at.

My proposal-

Convert IIT Delhi exclusively for the SC/ST/OBC, staff it with only OBC /SC/ST and let them produce for the market.

Create IIT say at Patna only for General students..........let entry to it be only through `merit` evaluated in terms of skill sets and analytical power.........there would be no consideration for extrenous political considerations like religion/caste etc.............

finally you can then let the industry decide which one they want to recruit..........

otherwise you can give then BTech`s and BE-s or MBBS FREE..............like rewaris to whatever caste as per the proportionate representation in the population......l

Hi

I am bit sorry that this aricle is not tight and very well edited by me. But i hope that it managed to send the message across.

As far as reservations are concerned, it is without any doubt a positive step being taken by the government.
IITs and IIMs for long have become the preserve of the rich and the upper caste and class elite. Its high time that these institutions begin to give entry to students from all sections of society.

Abhishek Behl

There has been a lot of talk about how the Indian government didn`t/doesn`t know how to tax an intangible like software and that is why the software industry is doing well.

Now of course our politicians have figure out how to fcuk with the software industry.

The first is OBC quotas at IITs and IIMs.

The second is OBC/SC/ST quotas in private industry.

It has taken them 20 years but they have finally come up with the answer how to screw those Indians who are fortunate enough to get out of the clutches of the socialist model and make money for themselves and their families, while providing indirect employment to maids, cooks, automobile/two-wheeler mechanics, etc.

There is absolutely no limit to which our politicians won`t stoop to make sure that no one escapes poverty in India.

Quote:
This is perhaps due to the fact that a University teacher has no stake in the future of the students. His job is secure, his promotions secure and his pension all the more secure-so where does teaching come in.

India is fast losing its intellectual prowess-vigour or whatever u may call it.
As far as IITs/IIMs are concerned , the niche-glory which these ivory towers have created for themselves is due to those students(when reservations % was still very less).
The USP(Unique Selling Proposition) of these institutions have allways been their faculty ,
know worldwide for imparting a rigourous method of logical thinking to their students. The campuses of these elite institutions were designed to be self contained , relatively autonomous environments where the best minds can be attracted-nurtured for 4-6 years.
(something like the ancient gurukul system)completely free of all kinds of political interference.

With 50% reservations in faculty jobs, the consequences can well be imagined. Most of the current faculty now prefer to bask in past earned glory enjoying the 5th pay commission salaries + lucrative consultancies, while their PG teaching assistants are required to take up the routine teaching activities in the classroom.

In 1 sentence, the situation can be summarised as follows
`` system is decaying``

1 element of the system (namely the teachers cannot be blamed alone for it). Even students are part of the problem. They are now more focussed , more materialistic . very few are now interested in jobs which do not pay them immediate returns.