The power of delivering the superlative quality education by means of using information technology has been the linchpin of every fervent discussion in the intelligentsia. This discussion should be given much more attention in the case of a country like India where every maneuver is a stalk horse which is concealed with the very mood to soaring newer heights so as to reach the pinnacles of the world stage. Information technology with its abundant resources and bounty of services can and should become a quintessential part of our state of the art education system. Mother India has always serviced all the prerequisites needed by the Information technology industry with the timely delivery of man and material resources. Thanks to the visionary thinking of PANDIT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU in setting up IITs and IIMs which then marched on to become the best in their classes (and thereby being the envy of the world) and by the respective governments in delivering infrastructural facilities as well as tax waivers to innovative IT promotions. Now its time ripe for the industry to prove the legitimacy for all these afore said actions. Educational system recounts to be the best player the industry can feel confidence as its potential emissary.
India is a country renowned for its pluralism. Stroll through US, you see an American, in FRANCE you see a French, in DENMARK you see a Dane. But come to India you see a PUNJABI, a GUJARATHI , a TAMILIAN or a KERALITE. Distinct in culture, caste , creed, religion , language and outlook , yet bound to the same substrate of belonging to the motherland and thereby exhibiting the so called traits of UNITY IN DIVERSITY. This pluralism comes in the case of education too. Though the entire country vies for a 10+2+3 level of basic educational system, the pluralism is clearly visible in any nook and corner. The syllabi a PUNJABI studies is entirely different from the one studied and espoused by a BENGALI. The subject matter and sometimes even subjects itself take a 180 degree somersault. In different regions of the country , science subjects even are taught in regional languages and when it comes to scientific names in the link language , pupil hardly seem to know about the very word being mentioned , even though they might be masters and connoisseurs of the same piece of knowledge in their mother tongue. It is in this arena that IT can work wonders if supplemented with an adequate support and co ordination from substantiating technologies like satellites. A detailed syllabi rising up to the standards of the world stage should be shaped by means of trawling through the world of internet. This uniform syllabi based in the medium of English should be adopted as the common standard for the entire country so that everyone in the country , in spite of the tyranny of pluralism would achieve the best and equivalent form of education. The implementation of such a system, toppling the existing one is not a mean endeavor. This would require a lot of home works and preparations, which can be simplified by means of the bounty from IT’s kitty.
Another serious concern is in the case of professional education. There has been a proliferation of engineering colleges and other technical institutions in the country as a spin off due to the rapid rise of the IT industry in the country. As per industrial grapevine, of the total pool of four lakh engineers coming out in flashing colours every year from a plethora of such professional colleges, only a meager 25 percentage are employable. What is the possible hitch??? The answer yet again lies in the syllabi adopted in these sorts of colleges. For the quintessence of this discussion let us take up the paradigm of software engineers who are preferably given BE or B.TECH by all and sundry universities throughout the country. In his course of a four year long bachelors program, a scholar studies approximately 50 odd distinct topics. However the only snag here for the professional engineer with such an exposure is not that he studies so many subjects. But instead it is that not in even one of these particular subjects is he a master. The syllabi is so structured that the bachelors degree just brushes him through the surface pool of knowledge and does not vie for an in depth learning. Therefore the off springs from such colleges are pupils who are not accurately employable from the point of view of an industry. A corporate sector’s processing or R&D section which requires manpower who are fervent with their in depth knowledge in a particular domain like networking does not meet its requirements as the state of the art educational system provides just a demography which is rich in acquaintances with the field of networking and whom thus cannot be seen as assets as true as steel.
IT giants whose wallets are heavier should consider that the time opportune to act is now. Bigwigs should now embark on finishing school programs for suchlike unemployable freshers so as to provide them the adequate know how in particular domains viz networking, software testing, program coding and the like. INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES, TCS and CTS have already gone on board with such projects in leading NITs and IITs. The “PARTNERS IN LEARNING” program ensued by INFOSYS pools 1% of the company’s total turn over in this side. However such programs are still in its infancy and more big players have to join the pioneers by following their vestiges.
The clout of the brand equity of IITs and NITs has been a stumbling block for professional colleges with high standards in their vicinity contending for development. The industry just concentrates in these IITs and the master grade colleges, though those colleges which are vying for a top spot just gets derided by the glitter of the IITs. A slight nudge would bring out the best from the scholars in these colleges. However the industry just concentrates on IITs and thus hinders the chances of healthy grey cells from grooming into mouse potatoes. Here indirectly the industry is nipping the expertise of such brains in the bud itself. Therefore the IT industry should make it a point to make available technical seminars and workshops descend into the courtyards of such middle of the road institutions so that the scholars in such colleges too learn to live up to the industrial preconditions.
Another hitch with the educational system in attendance is the lack of modern use of technology. Though there has been a lot number of a technological achievement, the potentials of these advances are not availed to its optimum practicality. Take for example the scarcity of computer enabled pedagogy. Not many villages in the suburban parts of the country are in tune with this form of strategy. If India is to boom in an ever changing world stage, the demography with a substantial know how in computers is to become an indispensable organ of the system. IT giants should make it a point to infuse the wealth of computers in the villages of India. This can be enabled by servicing the needs of government run aided schools. The requirements of computer systems and instructors in government run schools should be catered by IT giants by embarking joint ventures with state and union governments.
IT is not the panacea for all ills that have crept into the state of the art educational structure. However the abundance of IT and its services can surely be an asset that can drive away some of these malaises that have been letting down the prowess of our well proclaimed pedagogy. Since the motherland has been servicing the needs of the industry in many a way it could, by lending the professionals and manpower to make a pedestal in the world stage, now its time ripe for the industry to pay back for the legacy it has inherited. However it’s not going to be a cake walk for the industry to topple the existing system, but rather the course is to be forbidden by a plethora of stumbling blocks. When the industry makes a budge for the same, (let’s hope it acts so in the near future) let them be led by this slogan by SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
“ARISE, AWAKE,
STOP NOT
TILL THE GOAL IS REACHED”
