The Hindu Business Line : Merit in the classroom

The issue of quota in educational institutions has been under discussion for more than a year now. At this stage of consolidation of education policy, the issue needs to be addressed quickly. The policy should strive to raise educational standards to global levels. . A human resource survey in the field of engineering over the past five years, finds that the educational system needs qualitative improvement if the nation is to keep pace with the developments happening in diverse fields.

What is required

The first step towards enhancing quality is strengthening the education infrastructure, putting together a qualified and competent faculty, and imparting practical education. Premium institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology, the National Institutes of Technology, self-financing institutions such as BITS, PSG, Delhi College of Engineering, and autonomous institutions (about 10 per cent of the total number ) have the infrastructure. They have adapted to the changing scenario in the domestic and international markets, and thus varied their selection and training processes. A large number of state-administered and self-financing colleges that have come up in the last three decades are also close to international standards in terms of infrastructure. But some of them lack quality faculty and face some difficulty in attracting good students.

Evey effort must be to attract quality students. Even the affirmative action must not compromise on this aspect; the under-privileged students can be helped in numerous other ways. Under the current quota system in educational institutions, 22 per cent of the seats is reserved for candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes/Tribes. However, only 10 per cent of the reserved quota gets filled in premium government-sponsored institutes. Even premium self-financing colleges get only 10 - 20 per cent. Thus, the quota of 22 per cent often does not get filled up in premium institutes.

This is in sharp contrast to the situation obtaining in developed countries such as the US, Germany and the UK, where the selection process is not compromised in any way; it is purely merit-based.

Years ago, the Central Government earmarked 22 per cent for SCs/STs in educational institutions for a period of 10 years; but the system has continued to this date for various reasons but mainly political. It is no doubt important that some percentage of seats be reserved for the underprivileged sections, but surely not at the cost of merit.

Options abroad

In this age of globalisation, companies have little or no inclination to absorb mediocre students and train them to excellence.

The industry wants engineers with practical knowledge founded on sound theory and with the right aptitude so that they can take up responsibilities straight away. The education sector has been growing significantly in the last two decades. In the 1950 and the 1970s there was a shortage of engineers, but there were also few suitable suitable job opportunities.. This prompted many engineers to look for options abroad. But now the situation has changed thanks to a booming economy. And the need of the hour is to address the problem of technical manpower shortage with quality skilled human resource. This demands a policy rethink in the education sector especially vis-à-vis the quota system.

(The author is Executive Director, Entech Polymer Consultants (P) Ltd, Chennai. He can be contacted at entechpolymers@sify.com)