Education in India - Opportunity or threat?

Introduction:

As per Webster’s 1828 dictionary Education means the bringing up, as of a child, instruction; formation of manners. Education comprehends all that series of instruction and discipline which is intended to enlighten the understanding, correct the temper, and form the manners and habits of youth, and fit them for usefulness in their future stations.

The quality of education plays a significant role in everyone’s life. In India we have large number of professionals passing out every year after a having the best of education. But is that the kind of education that will make a professional competitive in the corporate world? My opinion will not be affirmative.

Education structure in India:

The real difficulty is that people have no idea of what education truly is. We assess the value of education in the same manner as we assess the value of land or of shares in the stock exchange market. We want to provide only such education as would enable the student to earn more. We hardly give any thought to the improvement of the character of the educated. The girls, we say, do not have to earn; so why should they be educated? As long as such ideas persist there is no hope of our knowing the true value of education. (M. K. Gandhi True Education on the NCTE site)

The entire picture of prevailing education has been beautifully incorporated in the above words. The education teaches student how to score marks but does not teach him how to implement it.

The second part of the extract deals with ignorance of woman being educated. Many people contest that this thing has changed and now women are getting equal opportunity to be educated as the men’s are but is that really true? I would say it is true but not exhaustively. When we talk about metropolitan city these things stand true but when we talk about urban areas it’s still the same. As per a research conducted only 3% of woman’s in urban areas are educated.

The key thing about Indian education system is that education structure here does not make a student prudent about how to apply the things which they have learnt in his area of work.

Infosys Technologies has its training campus at Mysore specially formed to fill the gap left inadequate college education.

It is not the only one: Tata Consultancy Services has a faculty development programme in 150 engineering colleges,

Problems of Education Structure:

The education structure prevailing in India creates a number of problems for a professional who enters into the corporate field after obtaining his qualifications. In India a student is more indulged with his course module till the age of twenty or twenty one which in turn makes him little aware about real world. Recently Goldman Sachs has counted the lack of quality education as one of the 10 factors holding India back from the rapid economic growth.

Total educated population	1,776,654
Without any specific level	353,224
Below Primary	239,962
Primary	461,505
Middle	291,362
Metric / Higher Secondary / Diploma	347,664
Graduate and above	82,913

Statistics from Madurai

In addition to that very few people turn up in our society from primary level education to higher level education. Nearly 45% of the population are without any specific education.

In most of the Schools/ colleges the curriculum has not changed since decades. Most of the things which are thought in school levels have either been abolished from real world or has little significance.

Education in India vs. Education in other Countries

The fundamentals of education does not change with the change in country what changes is how they are being taught. If we compare the education system between India and U.K. / USA we can feel the level of difference. In the B-schools of USA like Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Yale School of Management and others, the curriculum is designed in a way that would prepare students to handle practical situations in the ever-changing corporate world. Hands on training and plenty of practical classes are included in the education pattern at US management schools.

In B-schools of India, equal emphasis is given on theory as well as practical sessions. The IIMs offer the highest quality of education. Other institutions like XLRI, IIFT, Institute of Management Sciences and Institute of Finance & International Management offer a good quality of education so as to make the students industry ready

What about high schools? The condition is pathetic. Things are taught which has abolished long back. On the other hand western countries give more emphasis on goal oriented teaching.

The flexibility of the American education system is its greatest strength and also its greatest weakness. Students there can change their major (i.e. field of study) midway through college. This usually means that students in the US receive more exposure to a variety of subjects and hence, are more aware of their career options and opportunities. However, the downside is that they can avoid taking courses which are hard in their major.

“Of all the big issues challenging corporates, education is the starting point,” said Dilep Rajnekar, chief executive of Azim Premji Foundation

Education in India – Opportunity or Threat?

The answer to this question cannot be a simple one. Education in India is a threat to certain extent if the present system of education continues to be the part of our society at the same time it can turn out to be an opportunity if necessary gaps are filled in.

Opportunity here lies in the students who are keen towards education. As per a survey conducted there has been a nearly 80% rise in the number of enrollment in the primary school between 1995 and 2005.

When it comes to threat of education in India the point is very clear, if the same structure of theoretical education continues the education will turn up a real threat for India. And as stated earlier education is the heart and soul of the entire economy thus it will not only affect the student’s fraternity but also the entire nation will come under its umbrella.

So what can be done?

Instead of completely changing the education system we need to revive the education system by incorporating more of the practical oriented education right from the secondary level so that a student can cope of with the change environment in the near future. The following things can be incorporated –

ü Interactive teacher and student environment

ü Classroom seminars or debates on topics beyond course

ü Assignments on current issues

ü Proper technological guidance.

Recently it was announced by the education minister that he will change the education pattern to make it more life oriented. In addition there is a target of granting autonomy to nearly 10% of the colleges by the end of 11^th plan).

Impact of Education in the skills of professional in the corporate world:

Every year large number of professionals enters the corporate world through various stream but very few gets the desired level of success and skill. What’s the reason? Are the provided with different education? No. Then why is it that only 20-22% people get the desired level of success. The answer is the gap between learning and implementing. The skill can be attained by the professional only if they are passed through a balanced education system which gives them the platform of both practical and theoretical education.

Conclusion:

Thus education being the foundation of our society should be more structured and life oriented. If proper education complimented with proper training will make a person adaptive to ever changing situations. This will not make them like a “tool box” which has all the tools (education) but is incapable of being without the master (skill).