Education – Problem or Solution

I remembered, during early 90’s if someone passed 12th exam with First Class  (more than 60% marks) then parents used to distribute sweets in whole society but it is disheartening to see that recently, one of my neighbor’s daughter passed CBSE 12th class exams with 90% & parents were looking so sad that as if she has failed…Reason is very simple, during 90’s i think there were only handful students who scored more than 90% but today i think situation has reversed i.e. there are only handful students who scored less than 90%.

Over a period of time, Education has become a commodity in India specially Higher Education. All the genres of society are so overly obsessed with education that it has devalued the real essence of education.

Let me add that i am not discussing the topic that we should impart education, which should be area of interest so that individual can excel in life…Remember 3 idiots…But i am trying to highlight the much bigger problem, which will become cancer soon.

In Marketing there is a concept of Demand & Supply…If supply exceed demand then it devalues the product & vice versa…This concept can be applied to education sector also, as supply of talent pool is far exceeding the demand, which actually is devaluing the education….There are many factors which are contributing to this degradation & all there factors are interlinked to each other

(a) Commercialization of Education

(b) Sub Standard Quality of Education

(c) Very Limited Job Opportunities

Firstly, education is no more a noble cause but it has become a business or we can say it is commercialized now…Now a days you can see education institutes in every nook and corner of any urban city…All these changes are result of privatization of education…With the advent of large no of Pvt Institutes in mid 90’s, The agenda of Education is hijacked & education institutes have now become source of generating profit…Now u can find hundred of Engineering & MBA institutes in each state…These institutes are making good money through capitation fees and are also charging very high fees…

Higher Education used to be a aspiration for middle and Lower class in 80’s becoz of very limited access & poor economic condition of family..Post economic liberalization and with the opening up of education sector, this class grabbed all the opportunity available to fulfill their dream without taking quality into consideration…

Secondly, on quality front..i can only say that in most of engineering colleges, a fresh engineering pass out is deputed as Lecturer…Needless to say teacher is most important pillar to ensure quality education…There was a time when we had teachers, who choose this career out of passion and commitment..Today, if someone could not find any job in corporate sector, he become teacher…Recently one of industry stalwart mentioned in his interview that only 25% of engineers passed out are actually employable..he is right…Second thing which he forgot to mention is that the syllabus of professional courses is not at all suitable for today’s industry requirements….What i learnt 20 years back during my college days, same syllabus is being followed today..My basic que, is industry requirements same as it was 20 years back….I agree fundamentals might not have changed but their practical use has changed drastically in last 10 years therefore complete syllabus need immediate overhaul as per industry requirement.

Another important parameter for quality education is right infrastructure, I have seen, in order to start education (business)…An engineering or MBA classes are started in school building as temporary makeshift arrangement…I don’t know, what will happen to batch studying out their.

Now, coming back to theory of supply and demand…If today lakhs of engineers passed out every year then what they will do…Do we have enough jobs to absorb this pool..Answer is NO, without focusing on how to create job opportunities, we are happily pushing the pump of education to increase output…Its like we are using heavy capacity water pump to fill 1 Litre Water Bottle…

After spending lacs and lacs of rupees on education, its a major shock for today’s youth, if they don’t find suitable job…There is family pressure becoz for family also its a business i.e. if parents have spent 20 Lac Rs on education then they expect ROI of atleast 40k per month so that investment can be recovered in 4-5 years time else its a bad investment. In short, education is now a business for everyone i.e. for Parents, Student and Institute…We cannot blame anyone.

Now situation has come that after getting degrees, most of these pass outs take up jobs much below their qualification i.e. An engineer working as Call Centre Executive, MBA working as front end Sales executive and so on…Some of these jobs can also be performed  by less qualified people…

Recently, one of friend working as HR in one IT firm proudly told me that she has recruited only MBA’s at all levels in her department i.e. from junior level programmer to Vice President, all are MBA’s i.e. from package of 1.5 Lac to 1 Cr all are MBA…I was wondering whether i should congratulate her or should i feel pity on employees at much lower level…There is a second school of thought also, she told me that mental capabilities and talent of all these employees are different therefore they are at different level…Fair enough, then what it means is education institutes gave admission to students who don’t deserve to be an MBA…Actually she has done her job and put entire onus on education institutes for sorry state.

In short, instead of being solution in life..Education has now become problem…Under qualified person can do any job but education brings certain level of Ego..If u tell MBA to do front level sales job in FMCG & interact with uneducated shopkeepers then his ego will get hurt..Which will bring level of inferiority complex in the person..Worst case is for unemployed people, who will enter into organized crimes & of course with intelligent planning….Therefore u might have read newspaper reports like 4 MBA’s robbed bank, 2 Engineers involved in Car Snatching…It is out of sheer frustration only therefore education is now producing intelligent criminals also…Hope we all have seem movie “ARJUN” starring Sunny Deol and the movie tried to showcase how unemployed educated youth is taking path of crime to fulfill his wish & take out his frustration..

Only solution is to fix the gap of supply and demand, either reduce the supply or increase the demand…Till that time Education will remain problem, after sometime this problem will become headache and sooner this headache will become cancer. We should also encourage today’s your generation to opt for other career options besides Engineering, MBBS or MBA…

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