The state of today's Indian university level education system
"If the person has done a B.Tech in CS, then his demand would be very high. His value would shoot up." said one of the parents in the waiting lounge, while my mom patiently observed the reactions of about 100s of the parent's waiting for their children to complete their entrance examination for engineering and medical or rather to put in better words, to complete their entrance exam to the 'world of money and high value'.
It is that time of the year when every Class 12th graduate is applying to undergraduate and grad colleges in India. Running from one university admission office to another admission office, with the deepest sense of uncertainty about their future and an equal sense of vexation lies with their parents, who wish to direct their children to the best or the most prestigious university possible. Last year, I too was one of the million of applicants to such prestigious universities. It felt I was in a marathon to get in to the best college possible. A marathon, where I was racing past millions of other applicants.
The fan over me shrieked in an utmost peculiar manner, while the lights flickering spasmodically, as though they were in much need of engineering skills and repair, as I struggled over a mathematically intense question involving high degrees of multivariable calculus, a concept never discussed in school, but expected from students appearing for the engineering entrance examination, to put it into very blunt words,
During a particular university's entrance exam, I remember parents and companions measuring their child's worth in terms of the student's future economic value. The demand and supply of the individual was being discussed as though the student was a commodity and not a human being. Post a B.Tech, demand would be high. Post an English degree, demand would be low. Post a BSc., demand would be moderate. I felt sad for those individuals. The utter sense of dehumanisation these individuals were facing while giving these vast array of examinations was cruel.
Apart from the stress of giving such examinations, the kind of finances involved in the admission process was equally abysmal. Most colleges charged from Rs. 1000 to Rs. 7000, to apply to universities. And being an Econ Major currently, I would estimate that to be around Rs. 10-20 lakh earning for each university. ( Straight off. Just for examinations in halls which are non-AC, non- Stationery equipped, non-Computer enabled etc). But what could students do? Nothing. The utter fear of being unemployed in life without a degree is what nudges parents and students to apply to such universities and they are willing to go to extreme levels of investment- both mental, physical and financial investment to get in to the best university possible.
Now coming back to the scene at one of the university admission entrance examination. This was for one of the IP University examination system (A Government owned University system under the local Delhi state government system), being held at one of the government schools located at the east end of Delhi. Parents were waiting outside the examination hall under the scorching sun, restlessly for their children to finish their examinations. Droplets of perspiration floating across their cheeks, and whether their perspiration was mixed with tears of hope and sadness for their children was unknown. But something that was known to every parent outside the exam hall is that the rank of their child must be high or else their child's future is at stake.
The 'RANK'- something that is widely heard during the University entrance examination system in India. The rank of one individual over another is what determines the ability of the student to enter the university and not their ability to think different, critically or innovatively and this is the sad, bitter reality about our college system. There are a couple of liberal arts colleges like Krea, and Ashoka University who have come up with innovative ideas around the admission procedure but the number of such universities is just handful. There are still millions of students and parents who have go through the trauma of entrance examinations and rank based examinations.
JEE (The country's most sought after entrance examination for entrance in to the IITs and other prestigious engineering colleges) is something that people begin to prepare for right from 5th class, when parents enrol their children to coaching institutes who believe to churn the engineering skills out of the students by making the student work intensively in two slots- 6 am to 7:30 am ( Before school) and 4 pm to 8 pm (after school). And this is apart from the bundles of homework that students receive every day. And all of this procedure starts at the naive age of around 10 years, at a point of time when the student has not discovered himself/herself and is oblivious of the world around him/her. The student is never left to discover the true value of life, which is not the JEE and AIEE (Another entrance examination) but being a better human being.
And this is what leads to major frustration. After 8 years of preparing for JEE (Classes 5th to 12th), not forgetting the hefty amounts of money that parents spend on these coaching institutes, with investments that could range into millions of rupees with the hope of receiving the top most rank at the end of class 12th. People are lured into trusting these coaching institutes with the colossal boards that are displayed outside their offices and on highways of India advertising their top most student, who typically resemble ' The perfect nerd' who have never thought beyond their books or anything except for their JEE exams through out their lives. This exasperation is what leads to the high suicide rates among engineering graduates, which seems quite justified due to the immense pressure that is put on them throughout their lives to achieve the highest salary package and when that achievement does not come true, for them, life is nothing.
The entire life period has been laid out in front of them.
The major belief in todays society is that the demand for engineering graduates would always remain high while the supply low, This would keep their wages high at all times. However, the reality is that at some point of time, we all would come to the utter realisation that the supply would be so high, that most of the engineers would be unemployed. (A trend that is becoming visible now onwards). So was the 8 years of JEE worth it? Is this dehumanisation of being and measurement of value of a person worth it? Is engineering the only profession or are there other professions that could make deeper impacts on society and have the ability to change the world around us? What is your value?
What is my value?
