Editor’s note – In a fun way, the author takes you into the journey of exploration into the reasons for why those in power, despite their knowledge of the mishap that their management has produced, don’t make an effort to change things.
Author’s note – It’s about time the people running things took a look around them and admitted that not everything is perfect in the country today. Only after people admit the flaws in the education system will they be able to rectify it.
This article, contrary to appearances, has absolutely nothing to do with Rita Hayworth, who by the way is one of the most beautiful women to have ever lived.
This article has everything to do with the short term redemption, which, not unlike the short term memory loss made so popular by Ghajini, is also a state of denial.
A lot has been written on the shortcomings of the Indian Education System. It is not unprecedented, nor is it unknown to the people of India. The people in charge of our education system know all of this as well. They know what ails the education system very well, almost too well, for they have it rubbed in their face almost twice every day. The obvious question now arises, why don’t they change things? Why don’t they take their magic wands of authority, don their capes of righteousness, and create a better academia for people like you and me?
There are two reasons for this.
The first is that no politician must EVER admit that he is wrong. Even if he is wrong, even if he is so egregiously mistaken it would cost the nation 126000 crore rupees just to be able to recoup damages. This is the first and most basic rule taught to every politician in this world. Right from their political cradle, to their political grave, they must never admit even once that they were mistaken. IF they do, perchance, out of a prickling conscience, or as is more likely a slip of tongue, there would be hordes of other politicians baying for their blood. From the opposition parties, from their own party (yes, the people they had at one time managed to piss off), and from the general public, media, the list is endless. Unfortunately, for all practical purposes, the Indian Education System is run by politicians, and this means that no one actually running things can ever admit they are not doing a very good job.
The second is the short term redemption. And this is the interesting part. You see, the Indian Education system is a carefully calibrated, highly sensitive machine. It is very adaptable to the one thing that is responsible for driving it, jobs. You see most of the Indian Education system is not a steady edifice of erudition; it is rather a constantly changing and adaptable amorphous state of edification. It changes constantly due to demand, from industry or elsewhere. If the industry demands MBAs, a thousand MBA colleges will sprout up overnight. If the industry demands engineers, the same thing will happen. Almost all of our colleges are makeshift private colleges, with a semblance of order granted to it by agencies working at the behest of the government, which make curricula, administers funding and such. All of these colleges, focus on short term goals, getting their students recruited, ergo, getting more students to join their college, and as a net result, making more money.
Now, this by itself is not wrong. In fact, it is one of the reasons why India is a rising superpower (no seriously, it IS) in the world today. Adaptability is an important part of education today. However, by its very nature, the Indian education system is not only malleable, it is completely reworkable. It has almost no fixed foundation or structure to fall back on. Most of the top universities in this country were built as a stable framework for the education system of our country, however this framework has been torn down and replaced by obfuscate and counterintuitive laws and principles, which change every year. Now I have been a part of just such a university for the past four years. And while the Arts colleges and the science colleges have been in a state of steady decline( the arts college students do nothing but get drunk and fight), new colleges have come up, on human genetics, and new departments have been added to engineering colleges, in order to serve the industries which come every year to recruit such students.
Now, I mentioned that the arts students don’t do anything other than get drunk and fight. This is not their fault either. They are frustrated, at the lack of job opportunities, at the lack of something remotely resembling a placement season like the illustrious engineering colleges adjoining them. But they have none, and they are unlikely to get one. As such, these are the dinosaurs of the education system. Those that haven’t evolved, and are about to be extinct. Once again, this is not their fault. It is the fault of the education system which evolves selectively, only to appease the whims of the industries recruiting its students.
It has worked until now, for every time there has been a slowdown in demand in one sector, there has been a rise in another, and this has resulted in new avenues opening up. However, this model of constant adaptability is bound to fail at some point or another. The Indian Education System now needs to redefine itself as something static, unshakeable and let demand be a motivational factor rather than a driving force. This is why our education system needs to evolve from concentrating on short term goals, to looking at the bigger picture.
This is why the people in charge need to start admitting they are wrong, and colleges should concentrate on their curriculum, instead of trying to fulfill demand. This is why major changes need to be wrought, before we start educating ourselves, rather than simply selling ourselves to the nearest company.
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