Letter to President on Education System in India

To,

Sri.Abdul Kalam Jee,

President of India,

Rashtrapati Bhavan,

New Delhi.

President Sir,

I am Kapil Suravaram, the person who asked you the last question (that was interupted thrice by technical disruptions – hope this distruption distinction makes you recollect me) on the video confrence of Hyderabad Central University Convocation on 29^th Dec ’04. Due to the technical snags, my question was messed up and I couldn’t put forward my views properly. I would like to bring to your consideration a few observations in regard to education.

Sir, you had talked about universities being the birthplace of innovations. This is very much so as the university can carry forward research without any pressures of immediate commercial benefits. All over the world many discoveries and inventions made by researchers at such institutions have come into practical use centuries later. There should be unwavering support to universities to carry forward this convention.

However Sir, in regard to your point that there should be vocationalisation of university education, I am forced to disagree, considering the developments in my home state of Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere. It is true that there should be penchant of the education system to see to it that education help scholors to be suited to specific proffessions and also to become entrpuners. However this policy needs to be balanced by ensuring that the higher temples of education (universities) are not touched in this regard to ensure that pure and undictated research is produced. This is necessary to ensure that the country does not lag behind in coming up with new concepts and technologies that makes the world a better place to leave. But the state universities (ex. Osmania University) suffering from insufficency of funds were asked by the UGC to vocationalise the courses and introduce payment seats. It is not possible for minds dedicated to subjects and minds directed towards carreers to go together. This has diluted the research intensiveness of the courses as the faculty has to concentrate on training the students on what the industry needs. Sir, in reply to my question you had said that the vocational orientation of the courses should be for six months but the state policies seem to be tilting the balance much further.

The misbalance is aptly reflected in the engineering stream of Andhra Pradesh. There was a huge demand for engineering admissions. However the state before allowing institutions in any stream, should dutifully look into the issue of wether the number of engineers being produced would be met by the projected needs of the industry. Sadly this was not the thinking of the policy makers, and engineering colleges permissions were given indiscrimnately. Resultantly today sixty three thousand engineers are coming out of colleges every year and are having to work for such meager amounts that do not meet their daily needs, forget about earning enough to repay the educational loans they might have taken. Today thousands of engineers with shattered dreams are looking for other work avenues. Excess production of engineers than required industry demand has resulted in the availablity of cheap skilled labour.

The age old three tier system in engineering education is also being broken down. The IIT’s and other premier institutes were supposed to do research of national and international needs; the Regional Engineering Colleges (REC’s) & university engineering colleges were supposed to do research work needed primarily at the local state level and the other engineering colleges were supposed to produce engineers to operate the technologies (created by the higher researchers) in the factories. However the government is converting REC’s into IIT’s and into National Engneering Colleges (NEC’s) and what not under some policies lacking sufficent foresight. Universally agreed concepts such as that of one University Engineer, should have six supporting assistants from polytechnic colleges and the latter should have ten supporting technicians from ITI’s… have been thrown to the winds.

Such policies will never achive cent percent litracy (forget cent percent education) considering that every illetrate will ask how will his children be better off by getting education; what reply can be given to him when there are walking talking examples proving the same around you.

Further, instead of drawing inspiration from small European countries which achived tremendous development through cent percent education (Not just litracy), our country is plunging into no holds barred commercialisation of education (including allowing private universities), which is pushing the majority of the country into the darkness of illetracy.

Far what falult of thiers are children born into poverty being denied the right to education; why are we not being able to make education into an constitutionally implementable fundamental right. It should have been a basic right of our land to which people used to cross continents to come to the very first univerisities of the world.

The energy behind this letter is my earnest desire that you will use your good offices to make the concerned realise the importance of a systemic directioned policy towards education and reverse the process which has made every school and college into a business. I am sure millions of educationally less fortunate will echo my feelings in this regard.

-Kapil Suravaram (Fresh post-graduate from University of Hyderabad)

# Last but not least, I have to thank you for your inspiring interaction with us. Your thought provoking answers to our questions are subjects of discussions and debates in our university and will continue to be for a long time.

From:

Kapil Suravaram

401, Janapriya Paradise,

Street No. 1, Ashok Nagar,

Hyderabad, 500 020.

Tel & Fax: (040) 27631640

Mobile: (0)9256504540

Email: mailtokapil@gmail.com

# About Myself: I have completed Masters in Communications from Central University and PG.Dip. in media laws from NALSAR University. Currently I am into television production, research and events.

THIS LETTER HAS BEEN EMAILED TO THE OFFICIAL EMAIL ADDRESS OF RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN on JANUARY FIRST 2005. SADLY THERE HAS BEEN NO REPLY OR ACKNOLEDGMENT FROM THE RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN.