By SuryaTej Borra
We
produce 10 times more engineers than what USA produces. But US makes engineers
who are 100 times more technically skilled than us, why? The answer is very
simple. India is home to a redundant and marginalized educational system.
Mr.K.M.Murthy,
our neighbor has graduated with a degree in Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering
in 1978. I would be graduating with the same degree in 2013. Surprisingly both
our curriculums are the same. We both followed the same textbook for Heat
Transfer and use the same Method of Moments while solving a Bending Moment
Problem. We are taught how to make gears on milling machines when the modern
day industries use CNC Machines to make them . Surprisingly an undergraduate
Mechanical course does not have a mention about CNC techniques whereas it is
the core of the modern day engineering methods. Engineering is an applied
science which is taking a new dimension every day. So it is a fundamental
responsibility of the education system to give the student knowledge and
exposure to the latest trends and technologies and make them technically
competent. This is not just the case with engineering but with almost every
stream of science or arts.
Let
us look at another dimension of our system. In a recent survey conducted by a
famous media house, 64% of secondary school students have expressed their
interest to take up a career in engineering while about 26 percent wanted to
take up medicine. Here comes up a strange yet a suicidal problem. Students’
talent is not nurtured and they are not encouraged to take up careers as per
their own interests. Everyone wants their son/daughter to do a bachelor’s
degree from IIT and proceed to US to do a MS from the top 10 universities or do
an MBA from IIM and collect a fat pay and become stinking rich. When asked the
reason for this ambition they say their child would not be able to live happily
if he/she will not be a follow this so called “plan”. They force their kids to
do it to further their social status. Parents brainwash their kids by providing
“facts” which range from banks not issuing credit cards to inability in getting
married or buying a car, thereby forcing them into a hellish competition. The
most irritating part here is that everyone wants to get into one of the IITs with
a top rank. Recent statistics state that the coaching institute business
industry accounts to around 2000 crores in this country.
Why
are these baseless benchmarks set in this society? They only make a mockery out
of the lives of tomorrow’s citizens. A
recent American university study concluded that the process of learning can be
made effective by means of sensory education. Unfortunately in our country it
is only through the one organ – brain. More the mugging ability, more the
marks. In that case the latest 1TB Sony Laptop should be given the topper medal
at all University Convocations because it can memorize the most.
A
very famous school entrance test for admission to LKG requires the tiny tots to
write alphabets and numbers. But that is what they are supposed to learn in
LKG! Young kids who are not able to even say their name properly are made to
memorize alphabets and numbers so that they can secure a seat there. My strong
gut feeling was that they were planning to teach English Wren and Martin Exercises
in primary school itself. What is the point of memorizing Newton’s laws of
motion when you do not know how to apply them? But the person who can memorize
that and reproduce it in the examination is given good grades and hence lands
in a good job. The irony is that he has to apply Newton’s laws in his job which
he is incapable of. A majority of the Indian Industry works like this which is
the reason for our stunted technical growth.
The
list of problems is never ending. But there has to be a solution. This has to
change because quality education is the key to a nation’s growth. My solution
to this would be backing the education system by a strong political, academic
and bureaucratic framework which would greatly improve the quality of the
education system. There should be a constant revamping the system to meet the
ever changing needs of the world. A strengthened platform should be laid which
encourages students to pursue careers as per their interests. A strong sense of
spirit should be installed among students to make education a pursuit for
knowledge and a journey for excellence and not a rat race for grades and ranks.
There should be effective changes in examination system which would push
students to learn stuff rather than memorizing it. And most importantly we need
dynamic and visionary leadership at the top which can effectively implement
these changes for a better tomorrow.
