DEVALUED DEGREES

  THE  VALUE  OF  OUR  DEGREES   AND   EDUCATION

“It is not titles that honor men,  but men that honor titles.”

        ---  Niccolo  Machiavelli

We have eminent and excellent scholars who hold only Indian educational qualifications. And we have the kind like Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google Inc.  According to the Times Higher Education (THE) magazine’s “Asia University Rankings -2014” survey, as many as 10 Indian institutions (6 are IITs) were in the top 100 in Asia.  But, sadly, there was no Indian institution in the top 200 in the THE world university rankings for 2014-15.  Even the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Punjab University were in the 276 – 300 range.  There was no Indian Institute for engineering and technology in the list of top 100 universities.  And we have the dubious distinction of having more number of engineering institutions and producing more number of engineers than any other country in the world.  However, It is gratifying to note that IISc, Bengauru, and IIT-Delhi made it to the Top 200 of QS World University Rankings  of 2015-16.

A survey by Wheelbox Employability Skills Test (WEST) showed that only 34 per cent of our graduates have employability skills.  Another survey indicated that only 19 per cent of engineering and 5 percent of non-engineering graduates are employable.  Most of the schools and colleges follow the theme of rote-learning and scoring high marks sans high-order thinking, creativity and innovation.  The shackles of archaic methods of education are to be broken to widen the horizons of young minds.  Please read the ‘Scribblings’ under the headings of  ‘Dr. Peon, PhD’ and ‘SCHOOL  EDUCATION’ on this blog.

At the IISc convocation in 2015, the iconic Infosys founder Narayana Murthy lamented that there had been no breakthrough research of any significance from the IISc in all its years of existence.  This is because research productivity in our institutions is usually measured by the number of publications in journals which lead to a culture of individualism, secrecy and mistrust.  Tacit knowledge can’t be fully shared in the absence of epistemic equality between differing kinds of knowledge repositories.  The microscopic research may well result in a marginal increase in the huge stock of scientific knowledge, but may not fulfil the wish of J.N. Tata who founded IISc.  He wished that the research would bring about the well-being of the nation through advanced scientific research and large-scale industrialisation. 

Even the Indian Science Congress(ISC) is in for criticism (2016).  India-born Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan termed it “a circus where very little science was discussed.”  B.G. Sidharth, Director of BM Birla Science Centre called it a “Kumbh Mela of science.”  It was questioned in an editorial: “So, has it become a platform for pleasing political masters, an annual jamboree sans serious science ?” (http://www.newindianexpress.com/editorials/Stop-The-Circus-Stick-to-Science/2016/01/09/article3218376.ece )

In India we have intelligent youngsters with high knowledge quotient who have no idea how to go out and work in the field and who have the Indian desire for a white collar job.  Somebody said that Indian education is all about marks and documentation, not about skills and application.  Yes, we are bemused by what is happening.  We have to have a relook at our education systems and ruminate on the subject.  One may take a hint from the extraordinarily successful movie "Three Idiots" which is a satire on India's structured education system and the social pressures. 

LITERATE  COOLIES

It is no wonder that we are considered to be very good literate ‘coolies’ (labourers) in India and abroad, in various fields including software industry and medical industry!  According to the National Employability Report of Engineering Graduates prepared by Aspiring Minds (2011), out of the five lakh engineers passing out every year in India, a dismally low percentage of 2.68 of them are employable in IT product companies, only 3.51 are appropriately trained to be directly deployable on projects, and a mere 17.45 are employable for the IT services sector!  One can judge the quality of the education dished out, from this scenario.

And it should be shocking to know that 255 doctorates (Ph.D. degree holders) are in the race for 368 peon posts in the secretariat of Uttar Pradesh government.  And while more than 1.5 lakh graduates have applied for the jobs, the number of post graduates is 24,969 (TNIE, 17 September, 2015).  Passing the fifth standard examination and knowing how to ride a bicycle are the minimum qualifications for the post of a peon. 

And, in the Karnataka Health Department at least 2 engineering graduates and 4 post-graduates have been selected in January, 2016 for Group ‘D’ posts for which the minimum qualification is SSLC pass,  and the duty obligations include menial work like cleaning mortuaries, labour wards, operation theatres, etc.  The State Health Commissioner is reported to have stated that the scenario is the same across the country. (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/engineers-postgraduates-vie-for-karnataka-group-d-posts/article8176694.ece ).

Sacred Vice-Chancellors

And commercialisation is built into the system.  The NIPFP study pointed out that private education is soaked in black money. Mediocrity is glorified and money is minted. It is no secret that  political influence and monetary strength played a role in the appointment of some Vice-Chancellors in universities. “Former Vice-Chancellor sent to jail” is the headline of a news report about a Vice-Chancellor who is accused of indulging in corruption and acquiring assets disproportionate to his known sources of income (The Hindu, August 24, 2016).    A former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University-Coimbatore was convicted to five years rigorous imprisonment on charges of demanding and accepting bribe (The Hindu, November 6, 2016).  

"When politicians or money helps a person to become a Vice-Chancellor, the universities are caught in plain open corruption,” said  Mr. S.Krishnaswamy, Tamil Nadu Federation of Universities Faculty Associations (The Hindu – Education Plus). Former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University, Dr. Kalanidhi alleged that Vice-Chancellor posts were ‘sold’ for a huge amount, resulting in denigration in the quality of education and research (TNIE, June 11, 2011). 

Assistant professor Nirmala Devi seems to have thrown open a can of worms after being taken into  judicial custody for allegedly luring a few girl students to do "certain things" at the behest of senior Madurai Kamaraj University officials.  The case has been transferred to CB-CID.  Commenting on the events of this case,  R.Murali, former Principal of Madura College and State General Secretary, People's Union for Civil Liberties (Tamil Nadu & Puducherry), said, "It is indeed true that the post of a Vice Chancellor in Tamil Nadu is up for grabs, quite akin to bidding, where money and political influence are the key factors determining the appointment.  The highest bidder gets the post."  And, S. Vanchinathan,  an advocate at the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court and the State Coordinator, People's Rights Protection Centre is reported to have said that the Vice Chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University was appointed at a time when a case of attempt to murder a retired professor of the university was registered against him and that the appointment of the previous Vice Chancellor was in violation of the rule which stipulates that a candidate should have 10 years of professorship at the university (The New Indian Express, 18.04.2018).

CORRUPT  PRACTICES

Conduct and evaluation in examinations is bogged in the mire of malpractices, from the elementary level to the top across the country.  One recent (2017) example is that of an IPS officer who was caught red-handed trying to cheat during the main examination of UPSC.   He was using very sophisticated methods to copy through mobile phone, Bluetooth earpiece and some other electronic gadgets concealed in the folds of his shirt, with the help of an IAS coaching centre   (The Hindu, November 5, 2017).  You may read more about such things elsewhere on this blog.

CORRUPT  COLLEGES

Lucrative business in education brought about a mushroom growth of substandard  colleges. It is appalling to see in a newspaper (TNIE, June 8, 2011) that the apex regulatory body,  All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has found that only one per cent of the 1,450 technical institutions,  including 486 engineering colleges in one State in India met the prescribed standards !   Several institutions, hardly having any training facilities,  lure candidates  with a false guarantee of  placement in India or abroad  and use them as free manpower in their institutions  The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has recently (2015) pulled up some institutions which projected a guarantee of 100 per cent placement.

“ACTING”  FACULTY !

It is an open secret that many colleges, including engineering, medical and paramedical colleges, employ “acting” faculty members for a few days and show “hired” equipment when University affiliation or Council inspection teams visit the colleges for the purpose of certifying for grant of recognition.  Tutors, lecturers, professors et al land one day before the inspection date,  sign the fake attendance registers/documents, collect the “acting fee” and pack off at the end of the day.  Don’t ask the silly question:“Can’t the inspection teams easily find this fraud ?”,  forgetting that the world is driven by money !  Sometimes, the same drama is enacted officially by government colleges by transferring staff and equipment from one of its colleges, for a day or two, to one of its colleges undergoing inspection.  The inspection dates are notified in advance by the inspection teams.

At last, after being nudged by the Delhi High Court, the Medical Council of Indiahad  (February 2014) decided to conduct only surprise inspections in colleges, giving the managements no room to hoodwink the inspecting teams.  Don’t say ‘No way’ !

Analysis of data from the All India Council for Technical Education(AICTE) showed that over 90 per cent of engineering colleges in eight major States in India have at least one teacher whose name also features on the rolls of another college, and that there are at least 50,000 such ‘duplicate’ teachers (The Hindu, May 11, 2015).  The ‘open secret’ is now proved to be true.

                                                

 

VALUELESS  DEGREES

As such, deplorably, degrees of most of our Indian colleges and universities are not considered to be equally valuable abroad,  though recognised officially.  Even most of the research degrees like Ph.D. are of mediocre standard and products of ‘copy-cat’  and‘me-too’  type of research.  S. Ignacimuthu, former Vice Chancellor of University of Madras said: “Most of the research work done in India is repetitive.  It is unfortunate that people are adept in copying even published data.  We do not have the self discipline and ethical standards” (TNIE, 14 Dec. 2012).  “Swaranjit Singh Cameotra, a senior scientist at the Chandigarh-based Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), a Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) lab, was removed from service early this month (July 2016) for fabricating data in three papers published in 2013 in a scientific journal PLOSONE.  All the three papers were retracted by the journal in July 2014” (The Hindu, July 23, 2016). The University Grants Commission’s stipulations for teaching appointments and promotions is the main cause for the mushroom growth of Ph.D. ‘scholars’.  One goes after Ph.D. not out of passion for research.  It is for climbing the career ladder.  Collaboration with high profile foreign universities is shunned as it would require transparency and commitment to quality.

            Even otherwise, degrees have only a symbolic value,  not intrinsic value.   They only mean that one had formally passed the examination – not necessarily that one has the knowledge necessary to earn  and hold the degree!   This is a well-known fact, at least,   in India.     Even if the degree holder has the required knowledge at the time of passing the examination, the degree does not ensure updating of knowledge as years and decades pass by when the knowledge acquired at the time of passing the examination would have become obsolete at a rapid pace. An ability to learn and unlearn, quickly, after obtaining degrees will be crucial for good knowledge and wisdom.

“Knowledge comes from learning;   Wisdom comes from unlearning.”

“The illiterate of the 21^st century will not be those who cannot read and write,  but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”

--- Alvin Toffler

FALLEN  STANDARDS  and  SCAMS

         We are completely flummoxed to know that our unenviable standards of even those who studied at the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)  were exposed in a despatch in the Guardian (U.K.) by Geoffrey Moorehouse, as early as 1970s.  He stated that a British telecast programme equated Indian doctors to "senior nurses" in proficiency (The Hindu, May 28, 1975) !  That was about four decades ago.

Even today (2014),  more than 40 years later, “Indian doctors in the U.K. are worried by recent media reports that have questioned the competence and training of Indian doctors.   The Daily Telegraph in a report on May 6, 2014 used GMC-generated figures to claim that doctors from India are four times as likely to be struck off the U.K. medical register than those who are trained in U.K.” (The Hindu, May 11, 2014).  And, shamefully, newspapers carried the news that the CBI has unearthed a racket in the recently held AIIMS postgraduate examinations  and manipulation in Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets, with the arrest of seven persons (The Hindu, Vol. 134, No. 135, 2011).  This reflects our standards !  

THE TIMES OF INDIA newspaper (July 16, 2018) reported: " Students with -ve marks in NEET admitted for MBBS ... 400 students with single digit marks and 110 with zero or negative marks in physics and chemistry have been admitted for MBBS in 2017, mostly in private colleges ... tuition fees was about Rs. 17 lakh per annum showing how rich students with abysmal NEET marks have effectively been able to buy their way into medical colleges ... NEET, promising a merit-based selection, was meant to prevent exactly this ..."

An editorial comment in the BMJ in 2016  focussed on the deplorable situation, and called for a radical revamp of the MCI (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/british-medical-journal-calls-for-radical-revamp-of-mci/article8418954.ece ).  The BMJ praised the parliamentary committee and urged the Indian government to take immediate steps for the overhaul of country’s medical education regulator, the MCI (http://www.ibtimes.co.in/british-medical-journal-urges-indian-govt-overhaul-medical-council-india-673095 ).  The report is a severe indictment of the MCI and the Central government for failing to stop ‘sale’ of medical seats, having conflicts of interest influenced by corporate hospitals, sanctioning recognition and accreditation to unworthy institutions, etc.  By government’s own admission, the systems are considerably corrupt (http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/medical-council-needs-urgent-therapy/article8423556.ece ).

It may be recalled that  the president of the MCI was arrested by the CBI, and the President of India signed an ordinance on May 15, 2010 to dissolve the Executive Council of the MCI.  The president of the MCI who was supposed to be the highest controller, guardian and watchdog of the standards of medical education and the ethics of medical profession all over India was alleged to have gorged in enormous sums to the tune of Rs. 1,800 crore (as reported by media) to facilitate official recognition to some substandard medical colleges through illicit means.  One is completely flummoxed by the scandalous  'Mother of medical scams'  of the  'Father of medical ethics’!  This episode appears all the more squalid as it involves the highest guardian of medical ethics who embraced hubristic power.  

The Medical Council of India, which is supposed to be the nation's conscience keeper when it comes to medical education and services, suffered the ignominy of being "fined" to pay up an "exemplary cost" of Rs. 1 crore by the Madras High Court for indirectly helping private medical colleges its on code on 50 - 50 medical college seat surrender (docoplexus, May 4, 2017).

The famous Latin query “QUIS CUSTODIET IPSOS CUSTODES ?” (meaning  “Who watches the watchmen ?”) is very relevant to the systems wherein it is often the wrongdoer who is authorised to correct the wrongdoers.  And it is like Satan quoting scriptures ! 

Like 'Votes -for -Cash',  we have 'Marks-for-Money'.

The Honorary Secretary, PPLSSS of the Indian Medical Association, TN, wrote in a publication of the Indian Medical Association, TN  that  “... Acquiring medical degree is now become very easy.  But empowering knowledge is not that much easy. Degree can be purchased knowledge cannot be. As you know, little knowledge is always harmful. ”  (TIMA News Letter, vol.03, issue 11, December 2010).  To know more about the “Great Medical Education Bazaar” in India go to  http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/the-great-medical-education-bazaar/article4841270.ece .  And there is a much bigger “bazaar” for paramedical courses offered by institutions with no proper facilities for educating and training.

The “Vyapam Scam - 2015” – medical college admissions and examinations fraud,  a series of mysterious deaths and powerful figures on the dock – is a blot on our systems (  http://www.thehindu.com/sunday-anchor/^autopsy-of-a-scam/article7411616.ece ).    A conservative estimate of the ‘Dental and Medical Admission Test (DMAT)’ scam, which relates to admissions into private medical and dental colleges in Madhya Pradesh, is said to be around Rs. 10,000 crore (The Hindu, August 15, 2015).

Added to this is the problem of fake degrees.  A State Bar Council unearthed a massive fake law degree racket and the chairman of the Bar Council of India declared that over 30 % of all of India’s lawyers are fake or non-practising persons who misuse their certificates of practice (TNSE, 26   July, 2015).   "High Court seeks action against practice of buying law degrees"  is the headline in a newspaper (THE HINDU, January 19, 2018).  The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court said "Law colleges that 'sell' degrees would not be allowed to function."  That is the state of affairs.



                           

 

 In contrast, the standard (there are fake ones there also) Western educational centres,  especially those in the US,  stand out as institutions of excellence. Read on this blog the letter of    Prof. V.S. Ramaswami, MBBS, BSSc, MPH (Johns Hopkins, USA)  (Professor at various medical colleges) written to me as long back as September 9, 1987, to see his caustic remarks on this subject.  For immediate reference,  I quote just a few sentences from his letter:

Dear Dr.Rama Prasad,

"... There is no place for scholars and intellectuals like you.   And liars, Nixons and their like have their heyday.  Medical and other professions have reached their lowest ever levels,  and ethics and professional efficiency have no place in the commercialisation of the profession.  A generation of teachers has been wiped out and so there is none eager or competent to teach  and none eager to learn ... " 

                                                                                           --- V. S. Ramaswami

ABERRANT

It may sound strange, but I didn’t have a nameplate displaying my name, until recently, outside my consultation chamber.  Also, my degrees of qualifications are not printed on my prescription papers.  And I did not even care to collect the University Prize certificate and prize material of Dr. R. Viswanathan (Father of Chest Medicine in India) Prize awarded to me for top performance at my post-graduate university examination !   Eccentric, did you say ?

            Decades ago,  my colleagues said that without displaying a string of high-end degrees at the end of one’s  name, one cannot be considered as an outstanding medical specialist.  I threw a challenge to them that I would create that image without using any degree.  After several years, they conceded that I had done it.  Even then, I decided to continue the same characteristic --  not using degrees.  It may be that I am not using the degrees because I  have an image larger than life and bigger than what my qualifications would project me !  I never worked or stressed for the image,  it just developed naturally.  It may be more valuable to use  ”  www.rama-scribbles.com  " as a degree after my name ! 

 “It is not titles that honor men,  but men that honor titles.”  ---  Niccolo  Macchiavelli

 

UNCONVENTIONAL

Of course, it had been a tough job to go against conventions --  I dared to be different because I love to be different.  You may call me a non-conformist, a rebel, a fool, a philosopher, quirky, different, exceptional, aberrant, eccentric and so on, but that’s my pleasure !  You may read the ‘Scribbling’ titled ‘GOOD  OLD  TIMES’ on this blog.

"A smooth sea never made a skilful mariner.”

"The path to pleasure is paved with thorns.”

THIS  IS  AN  ABRIDGED  TEXT  OF  MY  ‘SCRIBBLING’.      THE  FULL  TEXT  WOULD  BE  POSTED  LATER.                                        --  T. Rama Prasad