A Big Flaw in the Education System

Well, let's make one thing clear in the beginning. This article will not be a cliche rant that you are used to hearing, rather it will give you a more rational insight.

Let's think about the step-by-step approach of an average or middle-class Indian student:

Step 1: He will be admitted to a government or private school at the age of around 3-4 years and will eventually go ahead and complete the 10th bar.

Step 2: Now comes the fun! 11th and 12th or +2. This is where a 15-year-old chooses stream from 3 options (although it's gonna change after the NEP). Students may choose Science, commerce or humanities.

Let's talk about the students who take Science. They have options like PCB, PCM or PCMB. In our country, to be successful or get demotivated, there are only two fields; Medical or Engineering (this is going to change too). I remember, when I was in the 11th standard (Science stream, CBSE board), people around me asked only two questions: Engineering or Medical, what are you preparing for? No one asked about my goal or ambition. There are only 2 fields to study after 12th Science. Then why would you say that Science has a lot of scope?

Now to talk about the flaw, we will take two imaginary characters, Rohit and Ravi. Rohit comes from an economically strong background, whose father is a big businessman. Ravi comes from an economically weak background his father is an employee at a small hardware store. Both Rohit and Ravi are good in their studies and they got 93% in the 10th board exam. Now, both of them have taken PCM (Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics) and both are aiming for Engineering. Rohit has taken up coaching classes in one of the top coaching institutes in the country which has a good reputation, with hefty fees. He is admitted to a renowned private English medium school with extraordinary infrastructure with world-class teaching. On the other hand, Ravi could not take up coaching classes due to a shortage of money and has been admitted to a local government school with average infrastructure.

 After completion of the 12th and entrance exams, there can be the following scenarios for Rohit:

Scenario 1: Rohit has done well in the entrance exams and has been admitted to a good government college or a good private Engineering college from where there is much more chance that he will get a decent placement.

Scenario 2: Rohit hasn't done very good in the entrance exams, but he wants to study Engineering. So, his father has admitted him to one of the top private engineering colleges in India through the management quota. Also, he can be admitted to any other professional course.

Scenario 3: Rohit is not interested in Engineering anymore, he wants to have a digital appearance. So, he decides to build a gaming set-up so that he can stream games online and earn money from there.

Scenario 4: Rohit decides that he will be the heir to his father's business, so he gets a degree and settles for it.

After completion of the 12th and the entrance exams, there can be the following scenarios for Ravi:

Scenario 1: Ravi gets a good rank in the entrance exam and gets a good government college. He takes a loan to continue his education.

Scenario 2: Ravi doesn't get a good rank and thus decides to take a drop year, and next year, he gets a good rank.

Scenario 3: Ravi doesn't manage to get a good rank. But has managed to get into average private colleges. But, he cannot pay the hefty fees. He also can't pay management quota fees and be admitted to top private engineering colleges. So, he decides to quit his engineering dreams and take up a general course for graduation.

Scenario 4: He doesn't have money to build a set-up to make money online. Also, his father doesn't have any business which he can take up. Hence, he ends up with an uncertain future.

So the whole thing boils down to one fact, the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer. I wouldn't like to leave this article without giving any solution:

1) The government should be increasing the number of government colleges or at least the number of seats.

2) The government may put caps on the fees taken by private institutions and install regulatory bodies that may keep these institutions under check.

3) The government can also charge students according to their economic conditions. For example, Rohit can pay a larger amount of fee even in government institutions, but Ravi can't. So, Ravi may be charged a little less (there are TFW schemes but I will point out its flaws also).

Yes, there are chances that with strong determination and hard work, students like Ravi can crack entrance exams, get government jobs or even set up something, but, it is hard if you don't have an economic assurance of some kind.

Photo credits:

easyuni.my

googleusercontent.com