Improving Education: What is to be taught up to 14 years?

Posted on August 20, 2009 by indra

I didn’t like rote learning. That was the main focus in education when I was a child. In the village school, some of the boys were very good in that, particularly with the arithmetic tables of different types. The teachers as well as the parents used to take pride in the talents of those boys. Unfortunately, they all dropped out. I don’t know where they are today.

I kept on moving between the remote village school in Bihar and the school that my grandfather founded at the small industrial town of West Bengal near Calcutta. I didn’t have the regular schooling up to class VI. It helped me. Even in this school where the medium was vernacular, the questions in examinations expected one to memorize many unnecessary things. Why should one memorize the poems and the questions based on the text for the language papers, be it Hindi or English? Even many had to memorize the answers of probable questions in subjects such as history and geography. It was just a torture. Many a times, for good scores on subjective questions, I had to memorize many things that I really hated. But most of the students had to memorize from help books just to score pass marks. It was certainly a poor teaching and almost no learning. It was just education for passing examination and getting certificate. One’s merit got rated and differentiated by the division or class scored in the final examination and not by the knowledge.

I wish it would have changed or will certainly change with the Rights of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill 2009 and the crops of model schools coming up at the block level. I have some opinion on what the children must learn up to class VI before they move over for four year secondary education.

The main thrust must be on learning of a minimum of two languages, the Indian language such as Hindi or Tamil and English, both with equal importance. It should be just learning and no memorizing without almost any home work. The teachers of the language must himself be good in communication skill in the language with good stock of vocabulary. The teacher must not make the students understand literature aspects. As a rule, the language class must prohibit the use of any other language than the one being taught in the class. The class must be small. It must use technology such a compulsory 10 minutes video and audio in the language to make the students proficient in the language and grammar. The students must be encouraged to converse and discuss in the language. He must start expressing his ideas in his own language and write in fairly good handwriting. A systematic vocabulary building plan must be pursued. The student must go to the language lab to record his conversation and must be helped to improve his presentation and style. Why should it not be possible to have good proficiency in communicating in both languages in almost 6-10 years of education in school, if the teaching and learning has been seriously systematic? In later years, the students will keep on adding in his vocabulary.

Naturally, the second subject of importance up to the age of 14 must be basics of mathematics with thrust on arithmetic. The aim of the teachers must be to arouse the interest for mathematics. While certain amount of rote learning of arithmetic tables may be essential, but the child must understand the application. He must start loving the exercises of questions and creating new exercises on own. The thrust must be clearly on the concepts and applications in real world. The school must develop a good mathematics laboratory. The progress of each student in the language and arithmetic must be constantly under watch.

Rest of the subjects be it history, geography or hygiene must be taught in stories and experiments in laboratories with no examinations or grading. Every student must compulsorily spend some time in work such as fine arts music, painting, sculpture and some in games, sports and physical exercises.

Naturally, even the rural school must have good teachers with aptitude and missionary zeal to impart the knowledge to the children. The community or panchayat must get involved in the operations of the school and in the selection and appointment of teachers. It may select and appoint some retired, educated, and interested honest senior citizen to be the mentor for the rural school.

I wish the real education gets universalized for all by the next decade. Let there be dawn of light over darkness.

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Nitish’s Initiatives Need Punch

Posted on August 18, 2009 by indra

If I believe media, Nitish must be credited with many firsts initiated from Bihar, be it RTI on line, 50% reservation for women in panchayats, direct subsidy on diesel for farmers or huge employment of primary teachers. With stalwarts such as Lalu and RamVilash opposing everything that Nitish or his government does, the initiatives deserve additional credits. Even the central government is trying to block what Nitish plans for taking the state out of its dismal situation.

Some of the requests and approvals that are pending with Manmohan’s government in Delhi are worth consideration.

1.Nitish has proposed an interlinking of rivers in North Bihar to fight the menace of flood and drought. Why should not the centre take a quick decision on it? On its own Manmohan’s government could have helped Bihar by engaging one of the best consultants on flood control in world to come out with the most feasible proposal and taken Nitish’s assistance to get that executed. I suggest this because of the state’s poor financial condition to spare the hefty charges of an international consultant.

2.Nitish has also requested the centre or the ministry of agriculture to facilitate the setting up of ethanol producing facilities with sugar mills in Bihar that has one of the most conducive conditions for it. The integration of co-generation with the plant would have also helped to improve power situation. I wonder why the centre is holding up the proposal.

3.Nitish has forwarded an urgent legislation to take up the cases of corrupt individuals who amass disproportionate wealth in fast court, convict them quickly and attach their properties. Why should the centre delay such path breaking initiatives?

4.Nitish has been seeking a special status for the state so that the entrepreneurs setting up enterprises can get some concessions encouraging them to invest in that backward state. Unfortunately, the Manmohan government is not ready to comply with Nitish. How long the people of Bihar can tolerate the injustice? Is not the Manmohan government failing in niti as well as nyay both that Nobel Laurent Amartya Sen has propounded in his latest book, ‘The Idea of Justice’?

Nitish has been able to impress the former President Kalam, Amartya Sen, and even Manmohan in principle. Nitish is also among the 25 great faces of India as presented in ‘The Week’. But with Manmohan getting reputed for inaction, the state keeps on suffering. I only expect the people of India to appreciate the unique situation of Bihar. Bihar with its great past must overcome the problematic present and move to future with raised head. If the centre doesn’t listen to its requirements, it can’t wait any more. Nitish or its other honest leaders must lead people’s movement to get the long pending issues such as drought and flood solved by the centre in a time frame.

Big businesses shying from investing in Bihar are working against their social responsibility of bringing equitable development in all regions. Can’t the big private companies such as Tatas and Birlas, Bajaj or Maruti set up at least educational institutes in Bihar? Why are the big names in education sector hesitant to come in Bihar with so much of commercial potential? Are they not aware of the large number of the students from Bihar that are migrating to far-flung states for education? Why should not they discuss their apprehensions if any with Nitish or Modi and get assured?

Interestingly, Nitish has started involving and encouraging the people of Bihar to participate in building of the state. I wish the state issues a development bond and appeal the people to invest in the fund for some critical projects related particularly to water resource management, education and healthcare.

I expect a grassroots movement to improve the quality of education at the primary and secondary level as well for the water storage. The panchayats must play a big role in universalizing education, disciplining teachers, or engaging some honest educated teachers to supervise the school or even arranging funds and resources from all private and public sources to develop the village school complex as a landmark of the village. Unfortunately, the panchayats are not shaping up well. Instead, it is becoming a playground for politically backed individuals with vested interests with no concerns for the social fabrics that it is supposed to build, support and strengthen. Nitish with so much of grassroots contacts must try to make panchayats work for the locals effectively. Only that can bring prosperity right up to the last man that he wishes.

Nitish must succeed. But he requires some real punch in his initiatives to succeed.

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Human Development- necessity of grassroots approach

Posted on August 17, 2009 by indra

Human development is a basic necessity, and need not be only through formal education system. If I look back down the memory lane, I find many instances of informal human development.

In my village, I had come across an old man with hardly any education, but whenever he talked about the finer points of Ramcharitmanas, he was an authority and I have not found anyone like him till date.

In my college, some teachers with much lesser qualifications stunned me and many.

During my professional career, I found dozens who were almost like Viswakarma so far the mechanical trouble-shootings were concerned. I remember Naidu, Patra, PC Sharma or TP Ghosh to name a few, who could translate any new idea that I wanted to get implemented into machining operations. In every areas of automobile manufacturing that I was concerned with, I found great brains. I used some to get trained newcomers. But the formal system hardly recognizes this potential. I kept on working hard and going up the ladder, but kept the educating my subordinate as one of the prime interests. I used to write troubleshooting checklists on different machining processes and circulate among the subordinates. And that was my way of developing the people. Ultimately, it got published as book through Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi.

Unfortunately, the system doesn’t allow and encourage the real skilled persons in industry or in the social groups to train new recruits or the unskilled one that are in plenty all around. The country such as India needs skilled hands in millions that can go straight to work in housing industry, or many other service and manufacturing sector. However, it is difficult to find employable young men and women who can straight be put to work.

The country produces near million commercial vehicle including heavy, and light such as autos. Passenger cars are additional. The country needs at least a million drivers. Are we having sufficient number of institutes to cater to this requirement? Unfortunately, what we see in form of cars displaying the name of the driving schools in every locality of the country hardly does a right job of training. And have you tested any of those new drivers yourselves? If you employ one, you can see him learning driving at your cost after damaging the car. The country requires huge number of motor mechanics, electricians, plumbers, and masons. And the country hardly does have the facilities. Let the best of the skilled hands be used as trainers as an additional responsibility and with extra remuneration or allow them to do that as profession with some fee. Let there be many independent but honest certifying agencies to issue the certificate of skill after proper examination and practical tests so that the successful ones can join the job straight in a day or two with productivity level of the average older employees.

Many of us would have read about Lalmuni Devi, the woman who started growing mushrooms in her shanty or Anita Kushwaha, the bee-keeping girl. Why were not these entrepreneurs used to train many more like them to get them out from the curse of poverty? Perhaps it is because of the mindset of those who wish to perpetuate the poverty of such persons for vested interest.
Let me confess even after completing mechanical engineering from IIT, Kharagpur, the best of the time, I was hardly of any worth to the company. I took years to learn my lob, as I wanted that. I did contribute on every machine that came under my jurisdiction. But I have seen many who get retired without learning anything of engineering. Those days have gone and today with heavy competition the employer can’t afford to spend so much of time and resources on new employees. Specializations have increased. Employers seek ready stuff.

It certainly means that the level of interactions between the academic curricula and industry are hardly proactive to take care of the gap. The education needs reengineering. The sector requires innovative leaders and full autonomy with accountability. Here too a ranking by some regulatory authority may be essential with tremendously growing crops of the private institutes.
Industrial enterprises have also failed in shouldering this responsibility. Infosys boasts of making 20,000- Rupee millionaires, but why should not it come out with data on furthering education levels of its employees? How many of its employees who entered as ordinary science graduates could get qualified as graduate software engineers or computer scientists with Master or PH.D while working in the company? How many of office assistants could get qualified as cost accountant or chartered accountants? How many of the employees could be encouraged to hold some patents? How many of its employees could become entrepreneurs because of the encouragement from the company? I wish if even the 100 top companies of the country take up the mission to developing the human resources with right earnestness, the economic scenario in the country will change considerably for innovation and entrepreneurship.

As I knew from nearer quarters both TELCO (present Tata Motors) and to a smaller extent Hindustan Motors had set up good training scheme with facilities for various trades. Unfortunately, over the period the importance of the training got diluted. In HM, the management and the union, both were the killers of a scheme that could have provided constant flow of already trained workforce.

Even the educational institutes fail in pursuing this task of human development. Why an institution can’t transform its teachers and even its ordinary employees into best educated talents? I wish even IITs could have taken initiatives to upgrade the teaching skills of its teachers. At least in my time, there were just few teachers who could command respect for their knowledge or for the content they taught.

Let us agree that the formal education must demolish its set pattern and innovate to work differently to meet the requirements of the society that it serves.

PS: published in Biharbrain’s Manthan July 2009 issue

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Manmohan’s Promise Prism

Posted on August 15, 2009 by indra

Manmohan and his government are mesmerizing the people with the promises of reforms, performance, and unheard of targets since UPA began its second inning. With the last win, it knows who matters for them and how they must be kept on its side. It will be only the time that will tell if they are right.

Prime Minister’s speech on Independence Day from the Nehru era has significance. Even in the good old days of radio broadcasting, the people of India attentively heard it with hope.

Today, it was raining. I did not know the exact time. And then as usual because of power outage around that time, I couldn’t hear Manmohan’s speech. Further, with maids on holiday and Golu with us because of his long week end, I got engaged in household work. As such, Manmohan hardly impresses while speaking rather reading the prepared speeches. But I got the glimpses of the highlights of the speech with the first opportunity to get on my laptop and then went through the full speech.

I couldn’t understand why Manmohan today didn’t come out a single new idea for the country. I wonder if he and his men have run out of them. He repeated only all that were presented in President’s address to joint session of parliament, the budget speeches, the right of education act passed and even what his minister such as Kamal Nath’s 20 km a day road building promised in media. His speech was stale but listed all that his men require for the people going for election in different states, particularly to allure minority, deprived and the so-called ‘aam aadami’ who are prone to be fooled.

I am sure the people were expecting something drastic on price rise, or steps to avoid the dependence on monsoon. I don’t know why Manmohan is hesitant on river-interlinking or some projects that can give a long term solution to North India’s drought and flood that is awaiting political will for last 62 years. I also wondered why he didn’t mention the new tax reform that his present and former finance minister announced recently with so much of fanfare and that impacted the Sensex so positively the next day.

I wonder if Manmohan as a professional has reviewed what he had promised on last five Independence Days and realized the futility of making these promises. Why should he promise something if he can’t get it executed? And perhaps that is the reason that his speech today didn’t have any mention on the acute power situation in the country. How can a country reach 9% GDP growth with no energy to start industries and services?

How long the prime minister and ministers keep on living on the false promises?

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Higher Education: A Dream Super Knowledge City

Posted on August 12, 2009 by indra

August was never so hot. It’s blazing and suffocating with high temperature and horrible humidity. The media is busy creating panic for swine flu. My friend dropped going to movie. The government fails getting bad news of the Indian students in Australia. Inflation is negative but the prices are unaffordable. The Prime Minister as well as Agriculture Minister publicly predicts further price escalations encouraging hoarding. It’s really getting dull. However, I keep my dreams going.

The news of IIT, Kharagpur going for its big plan was just exhilarating. I wish Sibal or some education enthusiast such as Rajat Gupta or Sam Pitroda initiates a project to have the world’s biggest university campus somewhere in India, may be on the Mumbai-Delhi Industrial Corridor coming up with assistance from Japanese or somewhere around Haridwar to be in better climatic surroundings and greenery.

The dream university may aim to bring the best from all over the world and be a real International one. Can each of the 100 or 200 of the best educational institutes or universities of the world be brought together set up a college of a discipline in which it is the best? It must cover all the subjects of importance, be it space science and technology or economics, the medical science or management, the finance or trade and commerce, the fine art or sports. The campus must house the largest library and auditorium, the best hospital, sport complex, laboratories and art studios surrounded by world-class residential facilities for a really global community. The university must get the best faculty and the students from all over the world. And it grows to have a million teachers and ten million students living in it. Everywhere in the world when one, the student or his parent, starts thinking of going for higher education, the first name to their mind must be of this international university.

Let the dream university be the attraction for all who visit this country where Vedas were born and are still chanted in some remote institutes.

Can some dream big and get it on mother earth? Who will take it?

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Higher Education: Benchmarks for IITs

Posted on August 11, 2009 by indra

Every policy maker, be it Manmohan or Montek, India baiter Amartya Sen or Jagdish Bhagwati, educationist Yaspal or Sam Pitroda wishes to use India’s demographic dividend to transform it into a global knowledge power. Sibal wishes to transform IITs into creators of knowledge from its present practice of producing under-graduates. Some expect IITs to produce Nobel laureates and some to compete with MIT and other great institutions. Some expect IITs to expand its researches, apply and get more patents and produce larger number of research papers for the reputed technical journals of the world. Some suggest IITs to increase its intake in Master courses and research. Some others wish to see its professors on demand from the professional institutes all over the world to share their knowledge with their faculty and students.

IITs are following the same goal, may be a little slowly. According to the director IIT, Kharagpur, the institute “plans to have 30 per cent of total student strength in the Ph.D programmes, up from 15 per cent at present.” The institute conferred 228 Ph.Ds this year, of which more than 60 per cent were in engineering. But none talk about the quality of researches and preference for the research works that can get translated into some unique products.

Increasingly, Indian enterprises as well as international companies are getting associated with IITs for funding research programmes. And this gives hope for some useful rather purely academic output. For example, scientists at IIT Kanpur are working on research aimed at reducing the price gap between solar power and energy from conventional sources.

It is also heartening that IIT-Kharagpur has big plan. Other IITs must also be doing the same. Khargpur will increase its student strength to 11,000 by 2011-12 at an investment of Rs 800 crore and to 20,000 by 2020 entailing an additional cost of Rs 1,000 crore as against its current student base of 8,000. I wish it focuses on increasing the output of Masters and PH.Ds rather undergraduates. Unfortunately, the undergraduates from IITs hardly pursue Master or PH.D at IITs itself, though most going abroad go for their Masters there. IITs must think over the reasons. Is it because of the quality of courses or the necessity for getting better and ensured employment that pushes them to do Masters there?

The industry did not encourage the higher education in professional courses with significant differential in entry remuneration in past. However, with large number of MNCs setting up R&D centres in India, the scenario is getting better today. Today most of the students going for Masters and PH.Ds are from the institutes other than IITs. They go for Masters as they fail to get good jobs after graduating from those hardly known colleges. The situation can’t bring good results.

The students doing undergraduate courses at IITs are the best brains of the country and the country can get the best returns out of them if they take up Masters and PH.Ds at IITs. The government and the industry must provide lucrative attractions for them to pursue Masters and PH.Ds at IITs so that they don’t hanker to join IIMs straight from the IITs after getting intense training and knowledge in engineering and technology. I wish Sibal could find the way out. He can certainly get CII and other industry’s associations to help him in this mission.

A major problem against attracting the students for research may be the lack of real reputed teachers at IITs. The institutes require a mindset change and allure the prospective talents from industry to pursue PH.Ds. I still remember Professor Rajendra Misra who had left a good job in industry and joined IIT, Khargpur. And over the period, Misra became a respectable figure in teaching community. I myself was pretty much interested in academic career, but I could hardly get good enough response.
As it appears the incumbent director at IIT, Kharagpur has some big dreams. I am sure other directors of the institutes of excellence with help from the reputed members of the governing body start thinking big in similar manner.

It gives hope.

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Automobile Sector: Still A Potential Savior

Posted on August 6, 2009 by indra

So now Nanos are out on road. However, I have not seen one in Noida still. Perhaps either Noida or I myself is unlucky. I wish every individual user of Nano write about their experiences. It will be a great service to the country. The feedback will make the manufacturer prepare it for the global launch.

As reported, Tata Motors has a plan to launch it in South American countries and its tie-up with Fiat will come to its assistance. Tata Motors may be getting it ready also from American market that has a potential for it in each home as second or third car. With the changing thrust for global warming and recession, the potential is huge and real.

A recent study on the “Opportunity for Chinese and Indian Brands in the USA” survey by AutoPacific shows that 15 percent of the new buyers would look at buying a car from China, while 11 percent would go for a car from India.”Understanding these consumers will be critically important to the success of any manufacturer with ambition in American market.” It will be interesting to see who gets in there, the Chinese or the Indian. Tata Motors is the only possible candidate from India. However, Tata Motors will have to have a foothold in US, as the transportation of completely built cars from India may not be commercially viable.

I wonder if the company is working on a real huge global presence. At till date, Tata Motors has not come out with any aggressive plan of producing Nanos. If the feedbacks are good about its robustness, it can sell a million cars in India. With financing faculties, very soon almost everyone in middle class can afford it even at a little higher price.

A recent report in ‘Strategy+Business’- ‘The Best Years of the Auto Industry Are Still to Come’– may motivate Indian auto manufacturers to push ahead with innovative products such as Nanos to huge population waiting to own a right car? Booz & Company estimates suggest that more than 370 million additional vehicles could be sold by 2013 and more than 715 million by 2018..

Earlier I had thought Tata Motors to have invented some unique way of assembling it at all the main dealers. Even today, some have this perception. One news report in ‘Business Standard’ says, “To reduce shipping costs, Tata does not fully assemble the Nano in factories; instead, the cars are shipped in parts and assembled in regional centers.”

Nanos must prove its wonderful receptions in all Auto Expos over the world with its performance. Nothing better can be written about Nanos what in March 2009, Business Week did while covering the launch with “What Can Tata’s Nano Teach Detroit?”

It makes me refer to the ambitions of Geely, China’s biggest privately owned car firm. As reported in The Economist, Geely’s technical director, ‘Frank Zhao claims that Geely will have the capacity to make 2m cars a year by 2015’.

Tata Motors has delivered 2,475 units of its small car Nano within 15 days of its commercial roll-out. Tata Motors has promised to deliver up to 60,000 Nanos by July next year, and the first one lakh cars by 2010. It means Tata Motors has capacity to produce about 5,000 every month. I wonder why Tata motors with all its facilities and that of its vendors can’t increase its monthly production gradually before it starts its Sanand Plant in Gujarat with an initial annual capacity of 2.5 lakh. It appears Tata Motors wishes to test the market before going whole hog. Many times it seems Tata Motors wishes to be excused for the delay on Mamta’s Singur episode where according to Tata Motors 95% construction had been completed. But I have hardly come across some plans from CEO of Tata Motors such as one of Geely’s. Has Tata Motors any plan to expand the capacity beyond 2.5 lakh per annum at Sanand or will it be content with selling in lakhs instead of in million?

It will be another missing the manufacturing bus by an automobile company to give unsurpassable handicap to China. Unfortunately, the Indian auto manufacturers are not having the strategy to push automobile manufacturing in big and innovative way. Instead all the manufacturers are trying to grow on the strength of China by importing their parts and subassemblies with the excuse of cost instead of supporting the Indian auto component manufacturers that one time considered superior to Chinese because of better quality and design capability with some even grabbing Deming Prizes.

Automobile still remains the indicator of a country’s development and economy. Manufacturers such as Mahindra and Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Auto, and Maruti Udyog, though now a Japanese company can make India a significant player in automobile in the world.

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Higher Education: My Views on Curricula

Posted on August 5, 2009 by indra

An acquaintance of mine, a former chief engineer of PWD, UP is setting up an educational enterprise that will have a school of management as well as a college of engineering in NCR.

He has crossed the last hurdle and managed the final affirmation from the state minister naturally at some cost. He was at my place and as usual I expressed my ideas of the right way of educating the students who shall be paying pretty heavy. I requested my friend to take any money within the rules of the land but see that the institutes prepare and make them readily employable for the industry.

As first thing, I suggested my friend to have a separate graduate school of science too. The school can teach engineering science and applied mathematics for in a two years course for the students of engineering as well as admit some for graduation in pure science subjects such as physics and mathematics. The school of science may cater to the many engineering colleges in the vicinity.

I wanted my friend to teach computer application as subject to students of all the streams as a computer has become a necessity today and learning aid too. And as soon as possible, the institute must see that a good laptop with a real high speed broadband facility is with all the students.

While carrying on the discussion on making them employable, I suggested having a compulsory English communication course for all the students, as most of the students coming from the rural India are generally deficient in English. He can get the task, if he wishes so, outsourced locally to expert communication institutes if available. I wish some amount of soft skills such as team working and physical fitness along with corporate ethics are also taught.

But my main thrust was on a major focus course of entrepreneurship and innovation in the final year for every student with help of a creativity centre and laboratory as well as external faculty from industry and specialized institutes.

It started appearing that my friend was getting impressed and involved with my ideas. I came out with my last bomb. Each of the students must get a two-weeks exposure to real work in the companies related to his subjects in every semester– at least five to six companies- small, medium or big. And every semester, at least six experienced managers from the industries must address the students on the contemporary issues of the commerce and business in the country. The institute must come up with memoranda of agreements with as many companies as possible for this. The faculty must research and work on the problems of those companies if they so request.

My interaction went on the content of the subject such as mechanical, electrical, or computer. I wanted the course material to emphasize on the practical aspects of design and development, manufacturing processes used for producing, the quality control system and engineering, and maintenance skill requirement for products. To expand on the subject, a mechanical engineer must have the knowledge of designing a product say a bicycle, the manufacturing processes used to manufacture that, the control needed to assure the quality of the bicycle, and skill required to maintain it. This is the basic minimum expectation from the mechanical engineer. Why should the institute not prepare him like that? The continuous interaction with the industrial enterprises will make it easier to happen effectively.

Should the above not be the curricula for higher education particularly in engineering colleges?

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Sreedharan and Metro

Posted on August 4, 2009 by indra

Perhaps the whole country was looking at the Delhi Metro project with pride. Sreedharan, the superannuated but still in action old man, was the hero. I kept on advising the government to search for many more Sreedharans to get rid of sloth in the hundreds of infrastructure projects of the country. But the recent accidents at the construction sites that got echoed even the parliament were disturbing. It must be taken as a fore-warning. And even Sreedharan must take it in right strides and learn some lessons. I am sure the great man as he is, must be pondering over that already.

Since the Delhi Metro started working in Noida, I was closely observing its progress. I was appreciative of the speed of work, its cleanliness, its professionalism and the safety net. I used to look at the concrete pillars and prefabricated segments getting assembled with awe. Naturally, concrete structures require better quality control practices of the input materials and the processes to eliminate internal flaws and cracks. In these structures and fabrications, each of the basic design and process steps ensure robustness of the system.

All the tools and techniques of the quality controls have been established in construction industry over the years that ensure practically zero defects. The recent accidents and further investigation showing undesired cracks in a number of supporting cantilever piers in various sectors under construction certainly tell a different story. Perhaps the organizational structure of DMRC had weakness. It can’t be overlooked by fixing up blame to some individual or contractors. The attention must be on the quality of management control that must be robust against any possible complacency in the organization.

Sreedharan may deserve some sympathy for his outstanding performance till date in meeting the schedule of completion. But with the amount of autonomy at working, he would have developed a fool-proof management system to prevent what happened. He has certainly failed there. And it is but natural that with such failures, the image gets affected badly and people forget the past record and age.

Last month my friend had informed me with immense happiness on his face about the start of the metro operation from Noida from August end. But as some of the friends now tell, perhaps the operation from Noida will also get delayed. DMRC must take more rigorous checks to avoid any undetected errors for the future safety of the commuters.

Sreedharan has taken disciplinary actions against some individuals and the contractors but I don’t know if he has started thinking saying ‘bye’ to DMRC after selecting the right heir to replace him. I don’t know if he has prepared one. And this is usually the common mistake even by many legendary leaders. Perhaps Sreedharan proved himself the same type of mortal. However, Sreedharan has been one of the best super-managers of landmark projects in India, and has left his mark with recognition coming from many agencies including some from the developed countries in the West too.

I am sure by next month or a month later, I shall be riding the metro from Noida to New Delhi, though I didn’t do that in the first metro of the country in Kolkata when I lived for so many years. I shall certainly not like to miss this time.

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IITs: Depleting Brand

Posted on August 3, 2009 by indra

Very soon perhaps every state of the country will have an IIT and may be an IIM too, with establishment of IIT becoming a political decision. With this large a number it will be really difficult to maintain the brand image that the older IITs have earned after decades of hard work from the academicians and students at the institutes and their contribution in the industry and status in the society. It will become tougher for the directors to excel against the interferences from the bureaucrats in the operations of newer IITs.

Crumbling infrastructure at IITs will affect the potential of the students. If Golu, a simple young boy from a small town can find the facilities much below his expatiations, what will be the reactions of those coming from the first class private public schools with the world class facilities? Golu is shore about the three students occupying a small room of the hostel. Golu’s father with all his financial problems had rented a separate room with bath attached for him so that he could have his privacy and concentrate on his studies during his higher secondary schooling. At IIT, even if Golu’s father manages the finances to meet the expenses for a single room accommodation, he can’t get it for Golu. I wonder why IITs can’t outsource the hostel facilities to private entrepreneurs or some willing alumni as was done in IIT, Mumbai, if the IITs can’t do that itself. I am sure the IITs have hardly a problem of land scarcity.

Golu couldn’t get even his expectations of high-tech class rooms satisfied. The class rooms of IIT still have black boards where the teachers use chalks. Today even some of DU colleges have air-conditioned class rooms with digital interactive boards and other digital gadgets that are pretty common in the educational institutes and colleges in US and even in China.

Unfortunately, even the quality of teaching and its teachers at IIT, Delhi as narrated by Golu is far from the best that I expected to have changed over the last fifty years. Golu did attend some classes and practical that perhaps was perhaps in workshop practices and electrical lab. As I could guess with what Golu described, the instructors hardly explained the manufacturing process the group of ten carried out or the purpose of the experiments they carried. The practice hardly make individual student learn and understand anything. The institute and its instructors must see that every individual student gets opportunity to work by his own hand. The class room must teach the engineering sciences and mathematics behind the technologies of every stream of engineering branches. The shop practices and lab experiments must make the students confident in handling the equipment and appliances by their own hands. Unfortunately, Indian lacks the skill of working by hand. With the real involvement in practice, the students get interested in the subject; otherwise they carry on the studies mechanically just for scoring good grades.

Reservation policies of the government and the way IITs are being forced to handle it will certainly affect IITs’ brand image. It’s certainly demoralizing the students of general categories. OBC perhaps does need any reservation. Even the performance data prove this. The fall in cutoff marks for the entry of SC/ST students will certainly affect the overall standard of education at IITs. The solution is in the strengthening of free education and other supports of those students at the pre-entrance stage with best possible facilities and teachers to bring them up to a common standard.

If IITs don’t review its working and take the corrective measures fast, it will gradually lose its attraction and the students will get disenchanted. The report of many students shunning IITs this year must be taken as warning. With easy financing from banks, the best students from the emerging middle class today can also join the best institutes in the world who are more than willing to accept them with less rigorous entry barriers.

Some news emanating from IITs such as one about nano satellite from IIT, Kanpur may be exciting but let us not forget that the Indian engineering graduates are not considered the best in handling hardware. The IITs must see that the graduates get ready to take up assignments in the enterprises they join without further training for months there. That is really an irritant for the industrialists.

Sibal must work with CII to bring IITs nearer to the industrial sectors and make them mutually benefit from their problems and potentials to solve them with its synergies.

However, the main task before Sibal will be to provide the autonomy to IITs to operate freely integrating the latest innovations in teaching and researches.

I wish IITs retain its brand image.

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