Problems and issues in Educating our Millions and Millions of Youngsters through MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL Industry-academia interaction by Ram

Dhanasekar LM 3564, Lecturer (Textile Marketing & Management), SSM POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE., Komarapalayam 638 183. TAMIL NADU STATE e-mail : [email protected], [email protected]

Including the excluded in our higher education portals (Problems and issues) Abstract: We have a great opportunity in technical education, which is being viewed as a major problem. Qualified school passed out youngsters in millions and millions who are willing to join technical institutions, but without the necessary financial muscle; hundreds and thousands of small, medium and large enterprises which are badly in need of motivated entry level novices; thousands of vacancies in hundreds of higher education institutions, which are badly in need of students for their very survival. This equilateral triangle of problem is really a mutually beneficial opportunity for interaction among forward looking industry and real autonomous institutions.

Including the excluded in our higher education portals (Problems and issues in Educating our Millions and Millions of Youngsters through MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL Industry-autonomous academia interaction)

Today just 15% of the eligible youngsters (15 24 years of age) are undergoing studies in the higher education portals of our vast nation of 1100 millions. Even this remarkable about 15 % figure (about 100 millions in absolute numbers) itself is a mind boggling, amazing, commendable achievement, which happened recently in the run-up to the diamond jubilee of our independent India. We are (and we should be) proud of this noteworthy success justifiably. However, it is not sufficient to make our nation a super world power in this knowledge and information era. For a meaningful and inclusive growth, every educationist, social scientist and economist worth his/her salt, repeatedly reminds us that we need to provide quality higher education for at least 20% of our population of that age group, preferably in professional streams namely engineering, technical, medical, paramedical, agricultural, legal, accounting etc..etc. Already we have phenomenal growth of professional higher educational institutions in every sector all over India. Notably, South Indian states are appear to have too many of them in the private sector ie, the so called self financing colleges or self supporting colleges. But for the initial startup investments, actually most of these institutions are almost exclusively financed by the students parents/guardians either through own funds or / and bank loans which are not very difficult to get sanctioned.

Admittedly, we have some of the finest, world class higher education establishments catering to a tiny select elite by virtue of marks or money or right connections with the powers of the day. These institutions are well patronized by the students & their parents/guardians/well-wishers, and the employing organizations. Their survival and the growth are ensured beyond a shadow of uncertainty. Most of the out coming students from these institutions are well received by all sections of the society. On the other hand, obviously the available resources ( faculty, support-staff, buildings, furniture, laboratories with working equipments, leave alone the latest and the state of the art equipments, libraries, sports facilities Etc..Etc... and most importantly the brand image & prestige) at many of the private sector institutions ( in many cases even in the Govt. & Govt. aided institutions ) are definitely inadequate. As a sad consequence, through these ill-equipped institutions, currently we are blindly turning out / churning out / minting out poorly trained, ill-equipped, under qualified, un-employable passed-out job seekers in millions and millions. (Despite these chronic and obvious handicaps, some brilliant pupils are coming through these institutions to serve the society in admirable positions). Education in general and professional higher education in particular, is becoming terribly expensive day by day in terms of time and money. Many a parents of the qualified candidates are unable to pay upfront for these full time, expensive higher education opportunities. In turn, many a higher education institutions are unable to fill up their sanctioned in take. Without getting money regularly from the parents, the private sector institutions (In many cases, Government and Government-Aided Institutions also) simply cannot survive, leave alone grow and expand. It is a vicious, downward, un-healthy cycle.

When, where and how we are going to find out the huge resources absolutely essential to educate the youth, three times the present numbers? Opening the floodgates of higher education system by simply and dangerously diluting the norms is, obviously, not a right answer. True, we need to provide higher education for our millions and millions of eager, anxious, knowledge seeking, and reasonably qualified youngsters with fantastic potential but without sufficient resources. We should do this noble task genuinely, but not for the namesake. We should provide affordable, accessible and inexpensive higher education with quality and utility to the hither to excluded segment of our youthful population. Millions of high school and higher secondary school completed youngsters are employed at low wages without any legal protection, in formal and informal

sectors of our economy in many a productive ways without formal professional education qualifications. These people can be brought in side our burgeoning education band wagon by suitably and imaginatively modifying our admission requirements, systems, curriculum design, academic content & calendar, class timings and even the examination patterns. One practical way of achieving this noble goal is innovatively facilitating the utilization of the significant infrastructure available in the cottage industries, small and medium enterprises, large and mega corporations. All practical classes should be done on the job by observing in the beginning and later on by doing. For example, numerous spinning mills, weaving units, garment manufacturing units, call-centers, hospitals, pharmacies, catering units, super markets, petrol bunks, workshops, poultry forms etc.. are employing a large number of young girls & boys for a fixed period of time purely on temporary basis (3 to 5 years). Most of these youngsters are provided with dormitory type accommodation in close proximity with the place of work (with a reasonable spare time in their hands). We can open up the channels of first rung of higher education system for them (say Certificate / Diploma/under-graduate program). As a positive spin-off, these establishments will get quality manpower for a minimum, predetermined fixed period of time, in the form of motivated, eager but untrained young girls and boys because the gainful but less paying employment is coming with a splendid opportunity to have higher education without financially burdening their parents. Obviously , to distinguish the regular full time students and these industry institution cooperation initiated, part-time pupils may have elongated academic duration ( say three years in case of ITI, four years in case of Diploma/under-graduate programs etc.. because these part time students will devote less number of hours in study per day compared with regular full time fee paying students). It can also be extended to graduate, post graduate and research programmes too. Examples are plenty . The World famous, quality oriented Indian IT major Wipro Banglore, Chennai based eye care provider Sankara Nethrayala and a host of professionally managed organizations and even a few family managed organizations like fertilizer behemoth SPIC (Chennai and Tuticorin), are offering higher education opportunities for their its employees in collaboration with BITS, PILANI.

The Madurai based Aravind Eye Hospitals (AEH) (with units spread through out Tamilnadu and even beyond), is recruiting just secondary school completed novices and turning them into excellent eye care medical and paramedical professionals. It is not surprising to know that even the hard nosed Harward University, USA developed case studies on AEH. The Bill and Mellinda Gates foundation honoured the AEH in 2008 with a Million dollar award for their humanitarian services. The founder chairman and the present chairman are duly bestowed with Padma Shri honors. We should institutionalize the industry- academia interaction, with the active participation of industry / Trade associations, federations, chambers of commerce and the distance education leaders. The possible players will be CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, SIMA, TEA, CODISSIA etc.. etc..on one side and on the other side UGC, AICTE, ISTE, IE(I), IGNOU, Medical and Para-Medical Distance Education Council etc. In essence, our industries / businesses / Traders / Service enterprises should become active and involved facilitators of higher education. Correspondingly our academic institutions should become part time / full time employment facilitating agencies for their students of both full time and more importantly part time students. It is for the mutual benefit of both the industry and the academia and in the larger interest of our millions and millions of eligible, eager , interested , dynamic , hardworking , empire building youngsters, who do not have the ways and means to go for full time higher education.