The Root of All Evil.

Well, there has been furious off topic posting, at the ILUGC, and I've come across something very interesting. For people who know me well, would agree that I crib away a large portion of my time, about how bad the education system in India actually is. Well, I've always had an inkling that I was in midst of a conspiracy, but now that's been proven beyond doubt. And for all those loyal souls who read my blog, here is the extract I've been talking about....

February 1835, Lord Macaulay's Speech in the Biritish Parliament, also known as the Minutes.

I have traveled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.

I am not very sure of India's ancient and traditional system, but I am sure, that the current one is certainly up to no good. It is a pity, that even after more than half a century of Independence, we are no where near, any thing mentionable. If India had a resume, it would suck. Its moments of triumphs, and glories, dwarfed, and rendered impertinent by the sheer monstrocity of its failures.

It is not to say that there are no good engineers, or doctors, or citizens for that matter, but the truth is any student, who achieves, has done it inspite of the system, and not in one case, because of it. This in itself is a rather painful thought. And for all those, who paint a rosy picture of a resplendent Indian dream of glory, and prosperity. well, think again. It is further disheartening to consider the fact that engineering education takes after this old, and utterly useless relic of an education system. A system aimed to cripple all induviduality, and any threads of originality in a student, lies at the heart of our current engineering education. A morbid, and disconsolate state of affairs, where students mindlessly mull over tomes of useless information, with their only aim being reproducing the contents verbatim, with no thought given even to remotely understanding any of the subjects. A system solely built to produce clerks, and secerateries, who can manage ledgers, and recite arcane rules, simply cannot produce quality engineers Period.

And the woes, do not end there, but persist, because of the fact that, the system, which in itself is utterly meaningless, is manned by equally imbecilic staff, who have hold of the most important resource of any nation. Well, about the rosy picture of the current status of education, well here it is, and I doubt if it is anything but rosy. A nation, in shackles, constantly constricted by the imbecility, uselessness, and absolute meaninglessness, of an archaic educational system, slowly but completely, wiping it of every breath of originality, innovation, and creativity.

With utter disgust and trepidation, I fear, that Lord Macaulay's dream, has finally come true. We have become exactly what he wanted, 'a truly dominated nation'.