We have seen best and the worst of higher education in India. The long March of educated unemployed knocking at doors that do not open. The frustrated young youth who finds everything uninspiring- the curricular, the campus, the teaching fraternity, the country’s leadership, and later the job that has nothing to do with what they have learnt. They are in that job just because they don’t get anything else. A post graduates in physics become a clerk in the state of electricity board. A post graduate in Arts becomes a conductor. Bulk of graduates and post graduates in Humanities and science in India take to profession that have no link to what they had been taught.
There are cases of engineering joining India police service. Men and women from professional courses have joined all India services and some of them are doing well. But what about the loss to the nation when they have wasted their talents of specialization.
And what about the best? And we can be proud of those boys and girls who have hitched their wagon to a star from our elite institutions- the Indian institute of technology, the India institute of Management and some of our medical and engineering colleges. India’s literate men and women are inferior to none and they can be seen anywhere in the world, USA, UK, Germany, Canada, Australia as software professionals, chartered accountant, doctors, engineers, scientists specialist, media person etc. We can proud of them and the countries where they are working are also proud of them. But These lucky ones are just a minority do not necessarily reflect the state of higher education in India.
While some believe that merit alone should be criterion for higher education other argued that merit is not connected among the privileged. There are countless meritorious students who are unable to higher education due to economic and social constraints. so should they be deprived of higher education? The other question is should higher education be available not only to those who can afford it? Obviously not what then it is the mechanism that we should evolve to see if the eligible from the ineligible?
Most people specially student community think that once they complete one program of study secondary or graduate level education, they ought to go up for higher studies. presently a majority of those who are enrolled are those who can afford it but are not necessarily well equipped and those who come through reservation and other schemes. we must put an end to this approach if higher education is to be become qualitatively different from it is for today.
The curriculum should be restructured enabling those who can take up employment.It should have vocational courses and training so as to enable those who have to leave it at any level to get employment and when they can afford it or have the wherewithal, funds and skills they should be able to take a break and go back to studies. This would not only reduce the present burden on the higher education system but would also produce qualitative output for employment at different level.Employers would also be able to avail of a skilled, unskilled, semi skilled individuals currently industries often have qualified, but not necessarily competent people students are of little use the employer and they themselves are frustrated faced as they are with a gloomy future.
Progress in science and technology is also playing a decisive role in bettering the quality of higher education. perhaps in line with the policy of running access to advanced science and technology establishment universities should have closer interaction with other institutions if possible to bring them to campus collaborative arrangements could be reached with these institutions to enable students to use their facilities.
Let us remember that education, be it higher education or any other education is never ending, it is long process. Here are some immortal words uttered by Dr. Zakir Hussain, president of India “ please remember that education doesn’t end with graduation”. It was never so even in the past and in the modern world in which knowledge is growing at phenomenal pace a university degree indicates only the arrival of the student at the thresholds of knowledge. There is profound wisdom in the story of a young graduate who said to the word “ look world I have completed my education”. I m B.A. “ The world replied, sit down, young man and now learn the rest of alphabets”.
Aishwarya Says:
I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.
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