PROMOTING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BETWEEN INDIA AND THE U.S.
Written by Sudharshan Suresh, 2016 Khorana-Bose Scholar
“Here I wish to talk about education and the dissemination of knowledge in our country, or the lack thereof. Countless words have been spoken on the lack of basic education amongst our populace and the vapid commercialization of the industry – I do not wish to talk of that story. Here, I would rather talk about the motives of learning, for those fortunate enough to get exposure to education in our country. This is not a lambasting account of the system – I believe it is doing a brilliant job serving the sheer numbers our country has. This is a retrospection into what it can become, something to revere and hope for.
Research for the sake of research, with no ulterior motives, is a forgotten venture in our society. The conventional educational framework aims to reward acquired knowledge through standardized testing and evaluation. Students are graded, ranked and fit to a bell curve; the system is stripped of all scientific ingenuity and flavor. Concepts are taught and forgotten, never applied or analyzed. Projects are worked on until they neatly fit into your resume – another brick in your elaborate ploy to secure a job or admit. Do stop me if I’m making sweeping generalizations here, I merely talk of my general observations. These are the cogs of the run-down machine that is our educational fraternity. There are institutions and organizations that deviate from this alarming norm, but are sparse and dwindling.
But are these problems isolated with the educational system? Not at all. Our society rewards material gain – a fat paycheck, a high percentile, a secure future. This in turn, seems to restrict many a dream and desire – out of fear of being a letdown to society. Granted, making ends meet is very important – but don’t we all wish for more? I may have gone astray here, but personal satisfaction is paramount to a career path. To take up an IT job as a mechanical engineer because you developed a knack and interest for it is great! But to do so just to gain society’s acceptance, and force your square peg into a round hole is beyond me. Society may accept you, but do you accept society?
I’ve seen people make it big elsewhere, pursuing what they have the whims and fancies for, irrespective of the title on their professional degree. I’ve met psychology majors working on social robotics, and physics majors studying music theory. This is the degree of flexibility I hope our educational system will one day see. We must stop feeding students with a syllabus and framework, and instead allow them to explore within the vast confines of the academic structure. Sounds like a mess doesn’t it? It is, it’s a beautiful mess.”