| |9 September 2019HIGHERReviewthe Indian institutions do not feel hand-icapped when they proceed to foreign institutions to complete the remain-der period of their study. In the short-term, this is a positive and quick way to dramatically transform what many have come to term as an obsolete education system in India that would simply fail to cater to India's legitimate aspirations to become a key global interlocuter in trade and knowledge exchange. Changing a system that has taken root over seven decades is a monumen-tal challenge. Unlike China or Israel, for instance, systemic change in India is resisted by entrenched interests and lethargy. We pay greater heed to infor-mation, for instance, than knowledge. Our general knowledge and quiz com-petitions rely more on memory recall rather than on processing information and problem-solving. Research, fur-thermore, has never been part of our DNA. It should be a matter of con-siderable angst that we have produced fewer Nobel laureates than a coun-try like Israel, for instance, that has a population smaller than some of our metropolitan cities.Many argue that India's education system at all levels is simply unable to cope with the extraordinary demand it faces. Through minor tinkering and band-aid solutions, the system has plod-ded on churning out vast numbers of students that are largely not employable and certainly, not global in their out-look. In a world that is rapidly integrat-ing and technology-driven, there is the very realistic possibility that India may find itself left far behind. If we are to survive in the 21st century, we need to jettison the 19th century mind-set and pedagogy. This suggests that the education system embraces revolution and not evolution. Dramatic transformation is the only alternative available to us if India is to match its aspirations with realism. The recognition by the government of this grand challenge and its debili-tating consequence requires measures that aim at rapid and complete overhaul of the existing system. Resistance is in-evitable and understandable. How the government responds will determine the future of its young and consequent-ly, of the nation as a whole. The current openness to collabora-tion with internationally-ranked higher education providers is welcome, as it allows for rewiring not only the cur-riculum and more fundamentally, the pedagogy. Global education recogniz-es that a key quotient of employability is problem-solving and multicultural team work. Testimonials of students who have studied abroad repeatedly refer to how the pedagogy emphasized learning in place of teaching. The best teachers are those who help you un-tapped your potential and think dif-ferent. As Marcel Proust once said, discovery is not the finding of new lands but of new ways of seeing. Where I might see a bicycle, Picasso saw the head of a bull, as immortalized by his phenomenal installation. This is not a shift in seeing. It is a dramatic transfor-mation in the way we see. The approach to India's higher ed-ucation challenge can be perceived by foreign education providers in two ways. Short-term perspective that many universities succumb to see it as a reve-nue-generating business proposition to capture larger market share of students seeking international education. A lon-ger-term view, such as the one taken by the internationally-ranked Australian higher education provider, University of New South Wales [UNSW], is to participate in partnership building with quality counterpart Indian institutions. Consequently, UNSW has sought out and forged deep learning initiatives with key Indian partners both with re-gard to research, as also teaching. Over time, these partnerships would impact not only India's future but that of the global community. The UGC initiative has recognized the advantage of leapfrogging and sys-tem overhaul. If this is sustained and energized, India's education challenge could become a grand opportunity.If we are to survive in the 21st century, we need to jettison the 19th century mind-set and pedagogyAmit Dasgupta
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