77. KICK THE UNIVERSITIES OUT
IF Bill Gates applied to Infosys, Wipro. TCS or even any street corner software company for job,what would happen?
He would be thrown out, for he is not a graduate!
Via Wikimedia commons.
Indians in general are so idiotic, they set huge store by college degrees, even though in 80% of the cases, the degrees are not worth the paper. In fact, no employer really goes by the paper certificate: each one is further grilled through tests and interviews, and is continuously watched on job. Why then start with insistence on a degree? Because we are idiotic, and we stick to what the British colonialists taught us, taking us to be idiots. [ or knowing us to be one?]
Bill Gates is not alone. He is part of a hallowed galaxy of eminent men in the US who did not have a college degree but rose to eminence! Henry Ford, J.P Morgan would not get employment in the organizations they founded. And Peter Drucker would not be employed at Harvard Business School because he lacks an MBA or PhD in the relevant subject!
Consider some of the big names in history who lacked a college degree, or were even school drop-outs:
Abraham Lincoln & Andrew Jackson: US Presidents
Andrew Carnegie : Steel magnate and philanthropist
Benjamin Franklin
David Ogilvy : Advertising guru
DeWitt Wallace : Founder of The Readers Digest
Frank Lloyd Wright : Famous architect
George Eastman : founder of Kodak
Henry J. Kaiser : founder of Kaiser Aluminium
Isaac Singer: inventor of the sewing machine
Thomas Alva Edison
Walt Disney.
The list is really endless. Cynics may say that there are ever so many who do not attend college but do not become creative or famous . Not attending or completing college is not a qualification! But then, show me how many of those who attend college and get degrees amount to anything later? How many of those who study law or medicine or accountancy or any damn subject become good at that? In India people go to college not to learn, but to get a ticket to earn a menial job. Delink jobs from degrees and let us see what happens to our blasted universities!
Let no one think that the list I gave above contains all old names. See some recent names too:
Steve Jobs
Richard Branson
Dave Thomas (Wendys)
David Green (Hobby Lobby)
Larry Ellison (former CEO of Oracle)
Michael Dell (founder of DELL Computers )
By mikeandryan[ CC BY-SA 2.0 creative commons via Wikimedia commons.
Rachel Ray (cooking TV show star- has no degree in cooking!)
Kevin Rose : Online Entrepreneur.
Again some critics may say: what is new in this? Are not our politicians largely without college education?
There is a huge difference. Each of the famous and big names above was a self-educated person, self-made. That they did not go to college did not mean they did not learn. They did not depend on college degree or pedigree or family fortune to rise. Our politicians not only did not attend college, but learned nothing even when they attended one.Many of them are incapable of learning. What did Nehru learn about economics after he left university? And what did he learn there except socialist prejudices?
In this respect, the 1965 anti-Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu marks a watershed. In the name of the agitation, local politicians entered the field and destroyed both academic and general discipline, leave alone standards and excellence.. Now universities carry out party-set educational programmes.
Intellectual V. Academic
Even in the US, they generally go by academic qualification- the so called "college credentials". It is here that the mischief occurs. The college faculties operate like mafia dons: they decide who are insiders and out; what shall be taught and how. They dictate the contents and contours of so called higher education by their narrow specialisation and rabid prejudices. Later, this sets the tone for the whole public discourse.
A University ought to be a place which promotes learning, a spirit of inquiry, pursuit of knowledge and truth. All old university teachers inculcated a love of wide learning and instilled a taste for life long learning ,which is self-paced. In the humanities or social sciences, there can be no strict separation of subject matter: how can one study economics without studying society and politics at the same time? There can be no purely economic decision. See how the present BJP govt is faltering on many economic issues like subsidies, EPF withdrawal, control of inflation, etc because they have no idea of the complex nature of the economic decision. They think a fiat from the FM will change or fix everything.
It’s Time to Change the Way We Think About College
The graduating class of 2015 is leaving college with an average student loan debt of $35,000 – the highest level of student loan debt ever. Although some young adults plan ahead and have a good understanding of their debt loads, many others experience shock and fear when they realize what repaying those loans really means. Even worse, some don’t end up in careers that justify the expense, which makes you wonder: Why isn’t society placing an emphasis on researching potential outcomes ahead of time?
No matter what, it’s time we all realize that, when it comes to the value of a college degree, we’ve reached a tipping point. There was a time when going to college was the epitome of success and the ticket to a golden future. But a convergence of factors have changed the way we must move forward.
The truth is, college isn’t for everyone, nor should it be — consider the thousands of kids who drop out of school each year, with piles of student loan debt but no degree to show for it. And if we want to stop saddling our young people with mountains of student loan debt they can’t afford to repay, we need to do our part to change the narrative.
This is the position in the US.
from: www.thesimpledollar.com
Yet, our universities have become pocket-boroughs of political interests who parade as self-styled public intellectuals. Thus, if one joins Jawaharlal Nehru University, one would be taught the leftist ideology, and the leftist interpretation everything from art to economics to history to literature to religion. Neither a lecture or nor even a discussion of a different view would be permitted or tolerated. Consequently, those who come out are not rounded scholars, but " schooled barbarians ".
The situation is even worse in the Tamil Nadu institutions where the leftist+Dravidian communal combine calls the shots.
This is because since the British days, govts have kept tight control on the educational system and institutions and our people are not used to autonomy either in academics or in administration.
Tale of Two Colonies!
India and US were both British colonies. But the difference is in the details. The thirteen original colonies adopted the resolution of Independence from Britain on 2 July 1776, and declared themselves Independent on 4 July. Since then, they have been on an independent course in everything.
Ironically, India was captured by a mere commercial company when the Nawab of Bengal fell to Robert Clive in a decisive battle on 23 June 1757.It was the sun of colonialism rising in the East, twenty years before it set in the West! For the next hundred years, the company ruled, when after the Mutiny of 1857, the Crown took over administration. They laid the foundation of our administration, law and justice, education etc, everything designed to promote and serve their interests, completely neglecting our industries and agriculture.
Thus when the US was embarking on an independent course, India was losing it independence.
But India lost more than its independence: it lost its very mind! We lost our faculty to think independently. Thus when we became free in 1947, Nehru as Prime Minister continued where and what the British left- exactly as they did! This is an important difference between the US and us.
Only, our people added more corruption and inefficiency and parochialism.
The British had introduced an educational system designed to produce clerks. We persisted with that, and intensified it further. Indigenous enterprise was not recognised or encouraged. After Independence, Nehru continued the same policy in the name of socialism! Even today, our enterprise is subject to bureaucratic control and manipulation, and endless corruption.
It is here that the American experience stands out. It is here that the American Dream becomes significant. Anybody with talent could rise in any field. Academic qualification was not a requirement; lack of it was not a bar. Later on, the US did attract academic talent from all over the world. But it is the robust intelligence of the people at large that contributed to its glory, not the academic outfits. Academics have only served as subordinates: eg Henry Kissinger, Ted Sorensen, Robert McNamara, etc.
Business leaders from the South
India has had its pioneering business leaders. Our traditional business communities and their enterprise are well known. But not so well known is the contribution of others who started enterprises which flourish still.
T.V. Sundaram Iengar started as a lawyer , worked in the railways and in a bank. But he took off independently , and started the first bus service in India in Madurai in 1911. Later, he entered the automobile ancillary and allied industries, parcel transport service connecting cities and towns with regular schedules. His company under the umbrella TVS became synonymous with punctuality, reliability and trust.
Today the different companies in the group are run by different branches of the family. It is the largest such group in India. Its founder was not an engineer or academic.
One Arumuga Mudaliar of Erode was a runner for the govt postal service, carrying mail to the hilly regions of Kodaikanal. People used to ask him to carry/bring dairy products. This gave him the idea and he started the "Nilgiris" store in 1905, specialising in dairy products and extending to other products. It expanded under his son Chenniappan. But in the next round under his sons, it underwent changes and now the group has been taken over by others.
This too is an example of enterprise without the academic spur- it was sheer spirit, innate business acumen.
Another such local enterprise is the famous MTR oufit of Bangalore. It started in 1924 as a pure vegetarian restaurant in Bangalore, serving clean and nutritious regional food. By 1970 it established such a reputation that people used to stand in queue up to an hour to gain entry.
During the Second World war, rice the main ingredient for the main item Idly was in short supply. MTR experimented with Semolina and came up with the Rava Idly which became a hit. Even today, it is a favourite snack in the south.
During the Emergency. the govt imposed price control on food items. MTR could not maintain the quality at that price and instead of compromising ,closed down the restaurant. But to keep the workers engaged, they started marketing pre-packed spices, essential ingredient of South Indian cooking. This too became a success. Thus on two difficult occasions it rose to meet challenges and converted them into business opportunities- a classic trait of true entrepreneurs. The restaurant reopened in 1984.
But recently, the spices business was sold to foreign interests. Thus though MTR is an Indian brand, it is not in Indian hands- something that saddens me.
These are instances which show that academic credentials or technical qualification is not necessary for business success. India is not short of talent, but we are tardy in recognition. And our bureaucratic, banking and other systems are negative if not hostile in their approach to indigenous enterprises. They are still colonial in mindset- ie if they have a mind at all.
We should also shed our fascination for paper degrees and love for seeking security in petty jobs, and allow our youngsters to enter diverse fields and try new things. We should stop stigmatising the failed, and devise systems to nourish and support fresh talent and new enterprises.
We should also shed our fascination for paper degrees and love for seeking security in petty jobs, and allow our youngsters to enter diverse fields and try new things. We should stop stigmatising the failed, and devise systems to nourish and support fresh talent and new enterprises.
There are not writers in India to record the saga of our great visionaries and pioneers.
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