A new perspective on education. Review on Studying in India Vs. Studying Abroad

This question has been oft asked by seniors in college atleast by those who are undecided until the last moment. Before I elaborate on my stance, my piece of advice to people who are deliberating on the same question that I did six years ago, is if you get into IIM, don't even sweat thinking about a foreign degree.

That said, I don't believe that M.Tech even from IIT's/IISc are that financially rewarding, even though the competition to get into the IIT PG programs is much more than the competition to get into a Graduate program at an University abroad unless it's a first tier University.

Here I am speaking of applying to graduate school, since until recently I didn't know how rigorous the undergraduate application was. During my experience of helping a cousin apply for undergraduate programs in the US, I came to realize how comprehensive and objective the application process here was, unlike the uni-dimensional selection criteria in India. Equal weight is given to extra-curricular activities and community participation as are given to test scores and grades. That is a positive aspect, because it forces students to get their nose out of their books and gain a broader life-enhancing experience.

But the drawback with the Indian educational system is that because of the massive number of students applying, their selection process cannot be more personalized like the process in the US. That in itself makes the selection process be more subjective, thereby robbing students opportunities to get out of the rigid framework a somewhat oppressive syllabus boxes them into.

Does that make them less well-rounded? Yes, because the intense struggle for survival and entry into these institutions deprives them of many skills which make the difference between being an average joe worker and a leader of the industry. It's of little wonder that the premier institutes like the IIT have a very limited number of students, because they have recognized the flaws of mass education. But once again, that's why they are elitist too, catering to the minority rather than the majority. The mindset that invariably sets into students of such institutions is a sense of entitlement and complacency, just because they have successfully navigated the rat-maze that is the IIT entrance exam.

Coming to my experience with the US system of education, I have found it to be enormously satisfying and true to the saying that a college is good or bad depending on what you get out of it. For instance, during my undergraduate days in India, a set syllabus with subjects having little relevance to your line of interest were imposed. The flaw with this is that, it lessens the focus on the subject that the student is hoping to get a degree in. In this world of specialization, knowing a little bit of everything works against the student.

This is where the education system in the US differs, in that it offers students choice, apart from core courses, so that the student is able to delve more into the subject of his/her interest. This kind of depth is a precursor to innovation and its of little wonder that research in these Universities is eons ahead.

Second, the appreciation for the language among the faculty is high and I remember being forced to use a thesaurus to write book reports, technical papers and project reports. Unfortunately I have to say that many of my fellow students from India/China fall short on the language and communication aspects, even being unable to clearly articulate what they knew so well. It can be argued that English usage is more widespread in the West, but even local students don't seem to fare too well in writing skills, but they are forced to work on it by the teachers, something which is sorely missing in India. Ideas need good language to be expressed effectively.

That is where the IIM's seem to excel, because the faculty have recognized the importance of language or soft-skills in a business environment. But they cater to a different segment of the corporate hierarchy and hence have different priorities for their students. Also most of the students have already been in a corporate environment and are focused enough to realize where they need to be.

What my frustration with the education system in India is that they seem to encourage rote learning, which offers very little scope of putting theory into practice.

Marks seem to be the primary focus and of late they have been handed very liberally to students. This is a great disservice, because to whom rewards come too easy, never learn the values of tenacity and labor. The corporate sector in India too is doing a great disservice because they seem to approve of this practice gleefully, by having marks as their sole criteria for hiring. FYI, the personality interviews are a sham.

Overall, the education in India is good for learning the basics and unless research facilities and the bureaucracy are altered dramatically, they will keep seeing the phenomenon called ''brain drain'', because ambition is stifled in the halls of bureaucracy, favoritism and nepotism. Skills which are sorely needed and values which ought to be inculcated in the formative years are missing from the curriculum and it pains me to say that unless education reform is implemented, we will keep producing workers not leaders. The teachers owe it to the society and students to remedy this.