Just finished reading CB’s new book REVOLUTION 2020, a good read I must say, he is one of the very few writers who make you feel that a live film is going on as you read through his book. Nevertheless this blog is not to applaud his writing skills (of course he doesn’t need my certification for that), but to discuss some thing about the INDIAN EDUCATION INDUSTRY (I call it an industry because I feel it fully qualifies for being one).
The first thought that came to my mind after reading the book was “We Indians are unbeatable when it comes to business and making money” and true it is – A classic example is that character Gopal in the book who made real money from a real education institute and was instrumental in spreading real education across a tier 2 town in India. What I could gather from the book is that a education institute has to be necessarily a TRUST or a society which is not supposed to make profits!!!! How do you expect a project to be economically viable if it doesn’t give a decent ROI to its promoter.???? Not every Indian is a philanthrop here but yes 99 out of every 100 in India ARE, if I were to be blunt, MONEY MINDED, and there’s nothing wrong in it. Or else how do you expect Indian institutes to have world class infrastructure and world class equipments in the labs when its costs a bomb to own them??? How do you not expect the teachers to crib that the students which they train get paid a million dollar and they themselves pocket merely a few grand (that too sometimes goes in arrears!!)??? How on earth do you expect the trustees, the directors and the deans to work with their whole body and soul when they know that legally they are not supposed to make money out of it!!!
Recently I read some controversy on IIM and IIT profs taking up part-time consultancy jobs in TOP MNC’s and that they are getting paid very heavily by he virtue of which they are not able to give due attention to their core job that is teaching……I honestly feel WHY SHOULD THEY NOT TAKE IT UP?????? Who on this globe doesnot like to live a comfortable life???? Gone are the days of black and white films when teachers were portrayed as MASTERJIS with a big pair of spectacles and a riding a broken bicycle, today they want to wear concealable lenses and drive a posh car, and they have every right to do that. The message was loud and clear … WE ARE NOT PAID ENOUGH THAT WE DONOT SCOUT FOR OTHER ALTERNATIVES. The problem is not just that, its even bigger…we had boasted since ages that the first civilization was started by Indians and the first formal universities were in India and scholars from across globe use to come here, but now when you ask any wannabe MBA as to where does he want to study his first choice would be a HARVARD, a LBS, a WHARTON and the likes….when we are considered to be the best doctors, best managers and best engineers across the globe then why don’t we have the best of the education institutes in India???
The answer is simple, education in India is regulated a little too much, just imagine starting a school or a university in India, it might take you a hundreds of approvals and more than a decade to build one and then too it’s not sure if you will be able to run it (most of you must have seen the Rajnikanth starrer SHIVAJI). A line of difference must be understood between being a watchdog and a bull hound. As of now the regulators who are supposed to be watch dogs are acting as hounds which will do no good to any one.
The second thought that came to my mind when I read the book was that if there is so much of money in it why can’t I try and open a college?? And I am sure a lot of big corporate in India might be thinking so but they are not stepping in because it very complicated and more over legally you are not supposed to make money out of it. Uncomplicated things a bit and you will see a lot more education institutes coming up with world class standards and then the regulators can be a prudent watch dogs and see the industry grow and see INDIA grow with it!!!!! ( take cues from the other regulators like RBI, SEBI, IRDA who regulate far more complex structures in the country.
DISCLAIMER: Each and every line written above are my personal view points and if any one disagrees with them you are free to abuse it in the comments but before doing so, please look around and feel the pulse!!!!!
The first thought that came to my mind after reading the book was “We Indians are unbeatable when it comes to business and making money” and true it is – A classic example is that character Gopal in the book who made real money from a real education institute and was instrumental in spreading real education across a tier 2 town in India. What I could gather from the book is that a education institute has to be necessarily a TRUST or a society which is not supposed to make profits!!!! How do you expect a project to be economically viable if it doesn’t give a decent ROI to its promoter.???? Not every Indian is a philanthrop here but yes 99 out of every 100 in India ARE, if I were to be blunt, MONEY MINDED, and there’s nothing wrong in it. Or else how do you expect Indian institutes to have world class infrastructure and world class equipments in the labs when its costs a bomb to own them??? How do you not expect the teachers to crib that the students which they train get paid a million dollar and they themselves pocket merely a few grand (that too sometimes goes in arrears!!)??? How on earth do you expect the trustees, the directors and the deans to work with their whole body and soul when they know that legally they are not supposed to make money out of it!!!
Recently I read some controversy on IIM and IIT profs taking up part-time consultancy jobs in TOP MNC’s and that they are getting paid very heavily by he virtue of which they are not able to give due attention to their core job that is teaching……I honestly feel WHY SHOULD THEY NOT TAKE IT UP?????? Who on this globe doesnot like to live a comfortable life???? Gone are the days of black and white films when teachers were portrayed as MASTERJIS with a big pair of spectacles and a riding a broken bicycle, today they want to wear concealable lenses and drive a posh car, and they have every right to do that. The message was loud and clear … WE ARE NOT PAID ENOUGH THAT WE DONOT SCOUT FOR OTHER ALTERNATIVES. The problem is not just that, its even bigger…we had boasted since ages that the first civilization was started by Indians and the first formal universities were in India and scholars from across globe use to come here, but now when you ask any wannabe MBA as to where does he want to study his first choice would be a HARVARD, a LBS, a WHARTON and the likes….when we are considered to be the best doctors, best managers and best engineers across the globe then why don’t we have the best of the education institutes in India???
The answer is simple, education in India is regulated a little too much, just imagine starting a school or a university in India, it might take you a hundreds of approvals and more than a decade to build one and then too it’s not sure if you will be able to run it (most of you must have seen the Rajnikanth starrer SHIVAJI). A line of difference must be understood between being a watchdog and a bull hound. As of now the regulators who are supposed to be watch dogs are acting as hounds which will do no good to any one.
The second thought that came to my mind when I read the book was that if there is so much of money in it why can’t I try and open a college?? And I am sure a lot of big corporate in India might be thinking so but they are not stepping in because it very complicated and more over legally you are not supposed to make money out of it. Uncomplicated things a bit and you will see a lot more education institutes coming up with world class standards and then the regulators can be a prudent watch dogs and see the industry grow and see INDIA grow with it!!!!! ( take cues from the other regulators like RBI, SEBI, IRDA who regulate far more complex structures in the country.
DISCLAIMER: Each and every line written above are my personal view points and if any one disagrees with them you are free to abuse it in the comments but before doing so, please look around and feel the pulse!!!!!
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