The Fallacy of Privatized Education – A Case of Technical Education in India

India though a fast growing economy ranks very low in the human development index, with issues like primary health care, poverty, illiteracy etc being only marginally ahead of some of the poorest nations of the African Continent. In order to improve the state of intellectual capital of the nation the government decided to privatize technical education in the early 80s. It was envisaged that this move would provide opportunities to the ever growing youth population to take up higher education and become skilled and employable. Three decades down, the reality is that each year India produces over 1 lakh management graduates and over 1.5 million engineers of which only 25% are employable (NASSCOM –McKinsey Report). Wall Street journal dated 06 April reported the growing mismatch between what is desired and what is available in the Indian labour market. Where did we go wrong?

The Political Factor.  The pioneers and the most dominant players in private technical education are no doubt the politicians. The bureaucracy associated with any government department could only be handled by political class and private education came to be known as the preserve of this class. In the 80s, engineering colleges mushroomed under tin sheds and in horse stables, with no infrastructure to impart any meaningful engineering education. Though there was a regulator in the AICTE and there were stipulated checks and balances, every violation had/has a price tag. Thus, there was never a need to build adequate infrastructure and appoint teachers as per the norms and with increasing number of youth vying to get engineering degree this was indeed a very lucrative business – A low investment-high return model. Education therefore, became a much known source of funds to fight subsequent elections and this quest lead to creation of more such institutions.

The Business of Scholarships.          With the profitability of this sector becoming public, anybody and everybody who could leverage the political class and the bureaucracy forayed into this sector, which could include rag pickers to pan walas. Gradually over the last three decades, thanks to the corrupt bureaucracy and government policy, the supply outnumbered the demand. In order to keep the numbers flowing in, the uneducated political class kept pushing innovative ideas through the system. One such measure was providing scholarships to backward class students – Overtly a measure to uplift the underprivileged, an idea that faces least resistance in our country and may even lead to political victories. This increased the customer base and each year billions are transferred from government coffers into the bank accounts of the private institution owners most of whom are politicians. Encouraged by the noble deed of educating India, they created even more institutions so that the most underprivileged can also become an engineer or a MBA – What a great cause they served, is it not?

The Number Game.  The ever increasing supply of seats against a saturating market called for innovative ideas. Adam Smith’s theory of ‘Invisible Hand’ was being put to test and the educated ones thought, now is the time when the better will sustain and the best will grow. But thanks to the brilliance of our political class they forced a policy of lowering the cut off for engineering admissions to 45 % and 40% for open and category students there by increasing the customer base yet again. In all probability such low scoring students could be from backward class rural areas who need not pay even a penny, thanks to the government scholarship. Why should other institutions running courses like MBA be left out? Even they made an attempt to lower the cut off. But for lack of intensity and may be money power, this was not agreed to. However, strangely in Maharashtra there are two entrance tests conducted for admission to MBA - one by the government and the other by Association of Maharashtra MBA/MMS Institutions. Interestingly, more admissions are done through the later and in some cases it could be as high as 80%. The point to note, this test is conducted at the institute level with almost no external checks and supervision. Though the AICTE has declared a single national level entrance test from 2013 the political class is already gearing up to defend this. Only time will prove if logic can dominate idiosyncrasies for at least once in our country.

The Future.    Will this empire built on misplaced foundation crumble? While philosophically one may respond in the affirmative, the mafia could change the philosophy itself. May be the next step would be to remove all shackles and make it free for all. The ideal stipulation would be that anyone could do engineering at government cost. The only condition is that the candidate should be a ‘human’. After all, is it not the duty of the citizens to pay tax as good Samaritans and that of the government to educate the country? What a great service to the nation? The politicians have indeed educated India and have taken care of the most down trodden. They deserve a pay hike and must also be given life time achievement award for their noble service.       

The Folly Unraveled.   The silver lining in the entire mess is that after three decades of this national loot the common man is getting to understand the folly of this education. India was once known for its educational rigor and technical acumen. However, to statistically support the effectiveness of the ill founded educational policy, year after year the universities have been lowering the curricular standards and assessment to ensure that large numbers pass and become engineers on paper. The literary fraternity fell in line and made the best for themselves, though in a much smaller way. The empty classrooms in colleges and ever increasing, fully packed coaching classes are a testimony of the poor classroom teaching standards in the colleges. The number of cookbook guides which sell like hot cakes and sharp decline in the sales of text books is a proof of our exam centric educational system. Students have come to realize the folly of going to college located in the out skirts of the city. They instead join a coaching class in the neighborhood, read guides and pass the examinations with handsome grades/marks. When this is possible, why do they have to take admission in any college? It is more of a compulsion today as the colleges are like Pubic Distribution System of degrees with no private alternatives. Further, the subsidy on education can be available only through these PDS/ Fair price shops run by the government. What can we expect from a PDS of degrees? No wonder 75% of the technical and management graduates are unemployable. One wonders, where are we heading? Is there a way of cleansing this mess?