The Indian education system has never the favourite for so many students and teachers, for years together. Commissions have been set up by the government, rules have been made but in vain. Innovation has not been brought about and as result, it still comprises of rote learning that does not encourage innovation.
All these arguments have been doing many rounds for some time now. Joining the bandwagon now, is none other than Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy.
Murthy has criticised the Indian education system for emphasising on rote learning rather than problem-solving.
While speaking at an interactive session at the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai, he pointed out the flaw in education system prevailing in the country. The rote learning culture, Murthy felt, has left about 80-85 percent youngsters not trained suitably for any job.
The Infosys co-founder opined that the country is lagging behind in creating a positive startup atmosphere.
“India is not at the forefront of the startup culture. Compared with the US, UK, Germany or China, I don’t think we are anywhere close,”
said Murthy.
Murthy also interacted with the students. On being asked about how to decide on the right path towards entrepreneurship, he said that the youngsters first need to decide in what area they want to become an entrepreneur. The next step is to join a company in that field and understand all about its sales, marketing and human resources and then give full dedication to the project.
Murthy said that it is appreciable that the central government is promoting the startup culture in the country through Make in India and Startup India. However, India being a federal nation, the state governments too have to take a lot of initiative to make this happen. The level of corruption and bureaucracy at the state level is hindering the progress of the startup culture, Murthy thinks.
At a time when political leaders and ruling parties are squabbling over how great India was and the number of scientific innovations that took place in the country, Murthy has a wonderful piece of opinion to share.
He said,
“Currently, there is a theory that we were second to none during Rama’s rule…that we had rockets and aeroplanes. That’s not right. We have to be measured by what we are today, not what happened 5,000 years ago. We have to be humble and open-minded to learn from others. Unless we become an open society with an open mind, I don’t think we will be in a position to help our youngsters become better entrepreneurs.”
The need for research and better investment scenario to foster the startup culture
Unfortunately for India, its research universities and productive research manpower are few in number. The total number of productive researchers is a mere 27,500, seven times lower than China and 17 times lower than the USA. Most of these researchers (75 percent) work in government labs and not in universities.
India’s high impact research output is just seven percent of US and 15 percent of China.
Research is not a lucrative career in India. Young minds, just out of colleges, do not wish to pursue something that would take up a lot of their time, money, energy and eventually would not yield anything worthwhile.
The bright minds mostly sail off abroad and settle there. The remaining ones stay in India due to family reasons.
It is absolutely necessary that many more research positions in top universities are opened and the research career is made attractive.
Also, the Indian investment system is not much into risk-taking and hence, entrepreneurs pitch businesses that fit the prevailing investment climate. As a result, innovation takes a backseat. If India is to rank among the top countries with a thriving startup culture, these things need to be changed for the better, as soon as possible.
Also Read: Management guru Ram Charan says companies need to invest in people, not numbers
