The Roots of Education are bitter but the fruit is sweet! (~Anon)
Good Day! Todays blog is about the sorry state of the Professional Education System in India. Specifically, Engineering Colleges and I am sure there are parallels in other streams as well. I believe this is the Nadir and that only better times can lie ahead!
However in came the Software Industry. The demand (bubble) for Computer Engineers (Programmers) was so great that people from other unrelated disciplines who had the aptitude were also absorbed by this rapidly growing industry. The salaries were typically a multiple of 3 or 4 over other industries. These salaries were high partly because this software was being developed for foreign clients who could pay in US Dollars. Indian Money was on tap! The curse of Easy Money successfully murdered a generation of Great Engineers in various disciplines as they queued up to join these offshore sweat shops. (Read Indian IT industry) Not only did they say bye bye to their original field of deep study, but also a vast majority decided that a Bachelors was "good enough" and that the "money was good" so why study further? Another half generation has followed with the "Me too Phenomenon". Observing the success of their predecessors, they "Followed in their footsteps"
However change was in the air! A nasty recession was a wake up call for many of us. Large and Dramatic change makes you take a step back and think and I think this is beginning to happen (at last!).
The bubble also created an artificial demand for engineers( or someone with a chit of paper that says "Degree") The Govt was adamant about reservation and social justice(Quota). In came Private Engineering Colleges increasing the number of seats in general. You might think this is a good thing. But alas, many of these colleges could not keep up the standards of education for long. Also, since there was a great demand in the Software industry anyways the attitude of the students now became "Give me the degree, I already have a job waiting for me!". Please note that many of these Engg Colleges are wholly owned Subsidiaries of Indian Politicians. Setting up colleges was easy as a song, build buildings with large rooms, install fans and tubelights, have ill equipped labs, appoint Staff (often poached from Govt Colleges on promise of greater salary) Apply to the AICTE for accredition (and other paperwork) which moved swiftly since the college was often a wholly owned subsidiary of the Politician.
Now we are faced with
How do we solve this complex problem? My favourite method is Hacking the system. Boycott several of these colleges that give out useless pieces of paper at the end of 4 years. Go back to the Guru-Shishya Parampara. Exploit Coursera, MIT open Courseware, Youtube etc.and actually LEARN something in 4-6 years!
For the industry the solution is simple, Hire people who can do the work, not people with useless Degrees. Also, if you must insist on formal education, please hire Masters or PhD degree holders since
Now BE=the new BCom!
Thats all for now folks! Happy Thinking!
Regards
~Milind Thombre
National Waste
The Indian Education system was originally designed to develop great Engineers in ALL fields (Civil, Chemical, Electronics&Telecom, Mechanical, Computer Engineering etc) in order to supply the demands of an emerging Indian Industry. To date degrees are awarded in all these widely dispersed engineering disciplines so that companies in these disciplines can flourish and create value and great products/services for end customers .However in came the Software Industry. The demand (bubble) for Computer Engineers (Programmers) was so great that people from other unrelated disciplines who had the aptitude were also absorbed by this rapidly growing industry. The salaries were typically a multiple of 3 or 4 over other industries. These salaries were high partly because this software was being developed for foreign clients who could pay in US Dollars. Indian Money was on tap! The curse of Easy Money successfully murdered a generation of Great Engineers in various disciplines as they queued up to join these offshore sweat shops. (Read Indian IT industry) Not only did they say bye bye to their original field of deep study, but also a vast majority decided that a Bachelors was "good enough" and that the "money was good" so why study further? Another half generation has followed with the "Me too Phenomenon". Observing the success of their predecessors, they "Followed in their footsteps"
However change was in the air! A nasty recession was a wake up call for many of us. Large and Dramatic change makes you take a step back and think and I think this is beginning to happen (at last!).
Collage of Colleges
The bubble also created an artificial demand for engineers( or someone with a chit of paper that says "Degree") The Govt was adamant about reservation and social justice(Quota). In came Private Engineering Colleges increasing the number of seats in general. You might think this is a good thing. But alas, many of these colleges could not keep up the standards of education for long. Also, since there was a great demand in the Software industry anyways the attitude of the students now became "Give me the degree, I already have a job waiting for me!". Please note that many of these Engg Colleges are wholly owned Subsidiaries of Indian Politicians. Setting up colleges was easy as a song, build buildings with large rooms, install fans and tubelights, have ill equipped labs, appoint Staff (often poached from Govt Colleges on promise of greater salary) Apply to the AICTE for accredition (and other paperwork) which moved swiftly since the college was often a wholly owned subsidiary of the Politician.
The Problem
Now we are faced with
- Lower demand for Low quality engineers from the West
- Lower salaries as there is excess supply of these "Engineers"
- Lack of Trust in the quality of the Indian Education System's Degree amongst Western Customers
The Solution
How do we solve this complex problem? My favourite method is Hacking the system. Boycott several of these colleges that give out useless pieces of paper at the end of 4 years. Go back to the Guru-Shishya Parampara. Exploit Coursera, MIT open Courseware, Youtube etc.and actually LEARN something in 4-6 years!
For the industry the solution is simple, Hire people who can do the work, not people with useless Degrees. Also, if you must insist on formal education, please hire Masters or PhD degree holders since
Now BE=the new BCom!
Thats all for now folks! Happy Thinking!
Regards
~Milind Thombre
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