Recently I was appalled by the fact that, at least in India, for a fresher it is almost impossible to get a job if not through campus placement! So much so that one of my friends decided to join an MBA program just to have access to the placement drama!! Which means that he is confident of doing well in a job; but needs a 'degree' and placement.
Do the conventional education and degree mean much? My views will be biased in that I am myself a product and benefactor of the system, and will be non-academic from the fact that I got no 'degree' in education or sociology!
If we look back, formal education was historically affordable and imparted only to the elite few. Most (if not all) old fathers of science and humanities are either from royalty or from clergy background. So, I guess, they tried their best to make education the business of the elite. And now we have something which breeds elitism! A mason puts more mental and physical effort than me, but gets paid less. This is morally wrong.
Besides the moral dimension, the other dimension to this whole debate is practicality. There was a time when the way (most) people got trained was through apprentice programs! This got different flavours in the orient and in the occident. But in today's world, without a piece of paper, you are not recognised. And that piece of papers needs years and years of effort and loads of money. It just does not make much sense to me.
What is the solution? Well I don't know and thats why this column is coined "Confusion"!!
Do the conventional education and degree mean much? My views will be biased in that I am myself a product and benefactor of the system, and will be non-academic from the fact that I got no 'degree' in education or sociology!
If we look back, formal education was historically affordable and imparted only to the elite few. Most (if not all) old fathers of science and humanities are either from royalty or from clergy background. So, I guess, they tried their best to make education the business of the elite. And now we have something which breeds elitism! A mason puts more mental and physical effort than me, but gets paid less. This is morally wrong.
Besides the moral dimension, the other dimension to this whole debate is practicality. There was a time when the way (most) people got trained was through apprentice programs! This got different flavours in the orient and in the occident. But in today's world, without a piece of paper, you are not recognised. And that piece of papers needs years and years of effort and loads of money. It just does not make much sense to me.
What is the solution? Well I don't know and thats why this column is coined "Confusion"!!
