Despite all the noise made by the Education Minister, Kapil Sibal, on overhauling the education system in the country, the vested interests have ensured that he didnt make much headway.
The higher education is in such a mess, what with the UGC proving to be highly ineffectual and corrupt. The problem with our higher education is not just that it is far too rigid and structured, but it just does not provide an opportunity for the student to explore different areas of knowledge. That it fails to provide the necessary soft skills required for the student to be employable is another major lacunae.
Let me give you an example. Let us assume that a student wishes to enroll for B Sc Mathematics. He has very limited option other than to opt for the combination of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, with English and a Regional Language. In some colleges they offer Statistics instead of Chemistry. I did B Sc Physics, with Maths and Chemistry as subsidiaries. I can understand the logic of tying Maths with Physics, but to date dont know why I was burdened with Chemistry, which I hated. I could have and would have opted for Accountancy or even Statistics. Or for that matter, why couldnt I have studied Psychology?.
The above is possible if the Universities were to go by the Credit System. In such a system, the student shall have the freedom to get a Bachelors or Masters by adopting any combination that gives him the total credit required for a course, as it should be.
Why Indian Universities opted for the rigid system long long ago was to basically support the nascent Colleges that have limited seats, and fewer students. Hence, the University was forced to adopt the rigid structure so that the Colleges are able to have sufficient occupancy levels for each class.
But in todays scenario where the Colleges are overflowing with students, any College can easily have an academic calender that can schedule lecture for varying subjects, with the students being given the option to choose the topic and the lecturer of his choice.
The British had a vested interest in cloning our bright young minds. They did not want to encourage creativity and individuality, but rather wanted a sea of youngsters who are obedient, rigid and ideally suited to work as subordinates of the highly structured British Administrative System.
It is a pity that 64 years after independence, we have not yet liberated our students from the shackles imposed by the British, whose strategic objectives were totally different, and who never had the students and India's interests in mind.
But then we have replaced White Sahibs with Brown Sahibs!!!
Where is the next Gandhi to lead a movement that shall liberate our bright young students?
