This post was mentioned on Twitter by prasannavishy: At times of distress its always help to turn to the profound wisdom of Guruji @atanudey http://bit.ly/8kdJrw...

The youth of this country is the one which will take this country forward and this youth requires quality education which this government will not provide.

Either you read selectively (proof: your 1st post) OR want to claim ownership of the central argument being made in this piece (proof: your 2nd post)OR BOTH (1st post & 2nd post read together).

I will illustrate the central argument (which I termed as the “core implications of sad state of affairs in India” in my 1st post)through a sequence diagram that simplifies the causal mechanism Defective leaders/misguided socialist ideology> Poor moral/social/economic/political values in the society> Weak & ineffective institutions> Flight of ambitious citizens to Western countries

One could argue that a similar thing had happened in China but they have understood the problems of their communist ideology and arrested the decline starting 1978 and are increasingly producing world class institutions (& if you cannot see beyond educational institutions- I have already provided the link in my earlier post). Even as the Chinese build world class (educational) institutions, there are still people who prefer Western societies (for a whole host of reasons). Now are you saying that the Chinese should stop building those institutions they have built because human capital flight is inevitable?

Mate, one doesn’t have to state their positions explicitly to understand where one is coming from. It’s sufficient for me to understand that you have rejected the core implications (of world class institutions (& not just educational institutions) highlighted in this piece initially and later made the case for the same. And for you having done that, my understanding of what you are doing is summarised in the initial lines of this post.

Btw Atanu, I can’t seem to use the Intensedebates functionality.

I would appreciate if you can point out where I said that India cannot build world class institutions.

“Also remember that Chinese students also go abroad to try and settle down in Western countries.”

Exactly. And it actually disproves article’s contention lack of educational opportunities forces Indian students to go abroad (and face racial attacks). Building a few Harvards is not the answer. Entire society needs to be rebuilt.

“You can now stop being an apologist for the Govt of India…!’

Thanks. I must compliment you on your uncanny ability to discover hidden realities.

Yes, we need greater domestic supply of quality higher-education institution and allowing private investment is a key part of the solution.

But the incoherent rant re MMS and Congress-I is irrelevant to the topic. Hamam mein sab nange hain.

Nikhil Ojha

You are ignoring one of core implications of sad state of affairs in India (& not just the education industry). The Indian State is pathetic when it comes to building world class institutions (educational or otherwise) and it is this lack of institutions that force people to go elsewhere to fulfil their ambitions.

Read this to understand how a poor country like China has built world class educational institutions. Also remember that Chinese students also go abroad to try and settle down in Western countries.

http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2009/05/22/beijing-and-the-reality-of-international-competition/#more-4345

You can now stop being an apologist for the Govt of India…!

Indian students go abroad to settle down there. Student visa is only a ploy to get a foothold in that country. Creating our own world class institutions is not going to remedy this desperate rush.

The theory based on an assumption (true for CNN-IBN, not sure to what extent is it true for others) that there are American interests in the Indian media companies. Amidst the recession, these interests want to stimulate the economy and hence want to tap into the huge market for foreign education in Australia amongst Indians.

Get my theory?

Setting up more/better educational institutions alone is not going to solve the problem. A large number of middle class people decide to settle down in the West due to better quality of life.

And there are no indications that the current political class has any interest in solving these issues.Education, unfortunately, is seen as a middle class issue. I mean, has any political party ever made education an election issue in India ? We may have to wait for the middle class to become the largest chunk in India’s population (expected to happen around 2025).

The remedy has to start at home within India as Atanu says.

Many incidents of students losing their eyes , limbs or lives due to the barbaric lynching by teachers , ragging , exams that drive students to commit suicide….none of these impact those in high places.

Indeed. As you wrote earlier , Indians in USA do well because they have a ” system that works “. Our atrociously clueless policy makers and corrupt leaders are to be blamed for all maladies. No point in blaming other countries around .

The ” small details ” where God ( and the devil too ) is , are ignored with egregious apathy by those wielding power. India is at war with itself.

I agree with your points on indian education system. But most of these students study abroad because they want to settle down in the respective countries and that is more important for them than education. In that context, just changing education system in india will not suffice. We would need overall development and improvement in life quality. From my CMU class, all the indians are still in US and struggling to get the GC where as almost all students from europe, south korea, taiwan, japan and singapore went back to their countries.

Tarang

Vishal