Demand Driven Education Required

Perhaps this country is heading towards a middle-income economy. Right now it is still an LDC with quite a huge portion of the population living hand to mouth. Obviously there are a very few elite and a number of well to do families in this country, but how many? They are probably not more than several thousand such families, which means they are too little in number measured against a 15 plus core population. A significant amount of them are middle or lower income families. The middle or lower middle income families work hard to ensure a sound education and provide a solid cultural environs for their much cherished offspring. The ultra rich educate their children abroad and employ them in the family business after completion of studies. But who are the majority actors in this social process? Obviously they are middle or lower middle income families. The higher middle income families educate their meritorious children in good schools, colleges and universities despite their many limitations. They suffer but education expenses are met on a priority basis with a hope that their son and daughter will complete studies with brilliant result and will get a job to take a hand for the family to bring them to genuine financially solvency. They will run the family on an affluent basis after the parents become old. However there are too many subjects in our country at the university level, which are not directly related with the practical job field. For example philosophy makes us wise, psychology help us to think about the human nature, history enable us to enriche our judgment but where is the lucrative field of these in today's world? Some of the students are becoming teachers of the subject but what about the rest? Those subjects certainly need to be learned. But for the majority of students these subjects should be in addition to the major ones like BBA or BCom or BSc (Science is being neglected these days which will lead to great woes in future, so there is still time to remedy). A student has to be educated in these subjects like Sociology, Psychology, Politics, Philosophy, History but the major will be the core subjects of medicine, engineering, management, marketing, accounting, etcetera. Obviously as a result a BBA graduate is to study almost forty different courses and become specialised in one particular subject only. This system enables a student to have a knowledge about all other subjects and a specialist in one. If demanded curriculum is introduced at the primary level for the poorer families who wish to have a job after completing primary education as trade courses or practical courses in sewing cloth or operating any machine used in a garments factory or in a printing press or in an ice-cream factory or bakery then after successfully completing that primary level one must get a job in a garment factory or in a printing press or in an ice-cream factory or in a bakery as an operator with a satisfactory salary to employ him or being self employed. In the same way all existing honours and masters' courses will be there but every course will include at least one-third marks from the demanded course of business leaders. For example in honors we used to be educated in 4000 marks in four years program if 1500 marks include from demanded courses by avoiding some repeated courses teaching presently in undergraduate level. Presently we see at least five-time repetition of some courses in honors level with almost similar curriculum. Finally the Demand Driven Courses can be taught with major marks for the core courses. These courses will be designed based on the recommendations of the curriculum setters focusing on the required skills and knowledge as required in different sectors. This Demand Driven Education courses will be rescheduled every ten years based on current requirement of skills and knowledge. It needs to be borne in mind that this is the computer and Internet age. Engineering and medicine are what has brought about the present global village inhabited at the higher stages by those of greater life span. These courses need to be practical-oriented. So, for example in business courses will include significant marks for part time industrial attachment. The students will get theoretical as well as practical knowledge on their specific field of study and they will be more efficient to perform their daily tasks in the job field. Thus our business leaders can get adequate qualified personnel in each respective field to expand their business to meet the globalisation challenges. Our students will get a job with proper salaries after completing the degree and our society will get relief from the unemployment load. This kind of system tried out on the ground can supply skilled manpower for the concerned sector (be it pharmaceuticals or business) and ensure full utilisation of our human resource potentials. Our business leaders, government, academicians with all other decision makers have to decide what is the need of the hour: educated unemployed load for the society or employed human resource for betterment of the society. The government should play our role to have the best.