Anand Gandhi: Poor show by most professional courses

If there are images in this attachment, they will not be displayed.  Download the original attachment

 In conversation with Anand Gandhi...

On Indian education system

Our education system is not built on a solid and understanding foundation. The system has not comprehended the original meaning of education. By that statement, I mean that almost all professional courses in India have failed immensely. The graduates who pass out of their colleges at the end of their undergraduate courses know shockingly little about their profession and the same is the case with some postgraduate courses as well.

However, the statement is not a sweeping remark on everything, seeing that there are postgraduate courses that run quite well, but most of the postgraduate institutes do not provide the kind of students that they are expected to. The colleges in our country neither encourage students to assess and enquire new ideas nor do they allow them to examine new ideas and data. These are the skills that an educational institution should provide to its students, which, unfortunately, none of the institutes encourage.

Tackling the issue

It is a monster of a problem which can be resolved through two ways. A short-term objective could be for students to do something in this regard. Thankfully, students are now benefitted with means to an end. They can choose many courses that are available online. If you want to educate yourself without paying a single penny, even that facility is available through online courses which you can download and start studying.

If you find that your colleges do not stimulate you or encourage creativity, you could always turn to online courses. But you would have to be quite disciplined about it. The second and the long-term objective is one in which all of us come together for the betterment of the system. It can happen over a period of time. We have to come together as a community and identify the problems, articulate the issue, break it deconstruct it and then troubleshoot the problem

On well-informed people

I have come across only three types of well-informed people. The first category is from villages, including the hands-on Indians, who try new ways to repair their tractors and invent new ways to repair and reinstall something. They may not have the perfect book education, but their practical knowledge on the world is quite awe-inspiring. The second category includes those who have done an undergraduate course in India and then gone abroad for their higher studies. The third category is those who have done their education here.

PC: bolegaindia.com

Article first appeared in education Insider magazine

Atul Kulkarni: Exam shouldn’t be sole criterion

Atul Kulkarni is one of the brilliant actors India has ever seen and belongs to the list of those specialist character-actors like Nazarudheen Shah, Nassar, and Ompuri.

In a  conversation with Atul Kulkarni...

According to me, education is something that helps us stay in a group without troubling others. It helps in the inclusive development of an individual. Education will help you to improve yourself mentally and it will empower you in all possible ways.

I didn’t have a good experience during my days as a student. You might think it was because of the teachers or school authorities. No. That was not the reason; it was only because of the system.

On education system

The education system in India should be reinvented. See, our system of education is choosing the best student from a very large number of students, which should be changed. A good education system should be able to inculcate values in the students and should be able to find the best in every student.

All the educational institutions, starting from the kindergarten to professional colleges, are money-oriented and job-oriented. It is a sad fact. Another truth that disturbs me is that our system is churning out a group of selfish citizens.

As an actor, I feel that creativity is an integral factor in a person’s development. Generally, today’s student community lacks that. The student community of today lacks self-thinking, which is one of the biggest threats to creativity. Students are not able to make sensible decisions on their own; our education system should be blamed for that.

On examinations

We have a very wrong way of labelling students – ‘examinations.’  It is the only criterion in India to measure the intelligence and knowledge of a student. It is so senseless; a student who can remember, during the examination, the things he has studied and who scores 90-plus marks is declared to be a brilliant student. It doesn’t make any sense, at least to me.

On memories

You can’t be choosy, and it is actually not possible to recall memories in your life. I said earlier that my life as a student was a failure and I am the only one responsible for that because I was not able to cope with the system. In my junior class, I did a play and got wide recognition for that; it was my first success as an actor. To me, life is a process; it has nothing to do with your happiness, sadness, or failure.

PC: en.mediamass.net

Article first appeared in 2013 September issue of Education Insider magazine