Dr. Kalam so gets it ....
I have always had my doubts about how much the IIT's, IIM's or even my alma mater, BITS, Pilani contributed to India - Because, in my opinion, what they have turned out to be is just a finishing school where the best students are polished in a way that their brains are made to lose all capabilities for deep analysis, with a focus on speed. Compromising on depth for breadth, which is of course what Industry wants - generalists, rather than specialists.
It has been argued that the IIT's and other top institutions have produced graduates who have gone on to create great amounts of wealth for India, either directly or through a trickle down from the US. My simple question has always been - What did these institutions add on to the students during their 4/5 years there? Of course, the graduate at the end of the degree is very different from the 16 year old fresher that enters the program - In terms of confidence, polish and maturity. However, are we confusing the normal "coming of age" of young men and women for something that these institutions actually provide?
If the IIT's took in mediocre students, would they be able to convert them into great engineers? And would a brilliant person, in the absence of an IIT education be vastly handicapped in their career? I believe that the answer is "NO" in both of these cases. And it is not just the IIT's, but also the so-called "top schools" in every city in the country, where through a careful weeding process, they remove every mediocre student until they are left with the cream to teach to.
Is taking the cream and producing whipped cream all that great? What we need are institutions that can take milk that is souring and wasting away in the absence of the right growth medium and provide the right catalyst for these individuals to channelize their knowledge and energy in the right direction.
Dr. Kalam echoes my point in a speech made to more than 4,000 IIT Alumni when he says "Just one-hundredth of one percent of the 20 Million children born in India make it to the IIT's, but they were the best and come out as the best with very low value addition". Bingo.
It has been argued that the IIT's and other top institutions have produced graduates who have gone on to create great amounts of wealth for India, either directly or through a trickle down from the US. My simple question has always been - What did these institutions add on to the students during their 4/5 years there? Of course, the graduate at the end of the degree is very different from the 16 year old fresher that enters the program - In terms of confidence, polish and maturity. However, are we confusing the normal "coming of age" of young men and women for something that these institutions actually provide?
If the IIT's took in mediocre students, would they be able to convert them into great engineers? And would a brilliant person, in the absence of an IIT education be vastly handicapped in their career? I believe that the answer is "NO" in both of these cases. And it is not just the IIT's, but also the so-called "top schools" in every city in the country, where through a careful weeding process, they remove every mediocre student until they are left with the cream to teach to.
Is taking the cream and producing whipped cream all that great? What we need are institutions that can take milk that is souring and wasting away in the absence of the right growth medium and provide the right catalyst for these individuals to channelize their knowledge and energy in the right direction.
Dr. Kalam echoes my point in a speech made to more than 4,000 IIT Alumni when he says "Just one-hundredth of one percent of the 20 Million children born in India make it to the IIT's, but they were the best and come out as the best with very low value addition". Bingo.
Comments
But just because they are from elite instiution there is a huge pay difference.
When i use to study in my engg college the guy who secures second class is more brilliant, explains practilcally how actually things work, more social with ppl , contributes to sports unlike th guy who secures class first just by reading it teh same theory 100 times and doing nothing else .
So personally i dont like to rank people based on academics or from the institution they come from ..
If someone contradicts my statemnt why we see state first from corporarion and state schools and not from top rank schools (though not evry time it happens) Ex: last year top scorer in physics from someone in thiruvannmali ( not even a city )can give lot of examples like that ..
Its just teh oppturnuity u get on the way....
what do you say ?