Just did an interview of a student who did her BCA (Bachelor of Computer Applications) from a govt college in Gurgaon. It is a sad reflection of how the Indian State has actively worked to destroy Indian talent & education.
3 years of college—and she never learnt to program. 1/
3 years of college—and she never learnt to program. 1/
I asked her what projects she did, what code she wrote. The answer was "nothing." She said the teacher just taught "theory", they did not get students to code; actual coding was not required for any class.
So programming was a taught from a book, evaluated by paper "exams." 2/
So programming was a taught from a book, evaluated by paper "exams." 2/
So she could recite what a Database was but could not write SQL. She had never worked on an actual database. To her credit, she was able to write a little bit of C++. But she had actually never written any useful program in her entire 3 years of "computer" education. 3/
So after 3 years of BCA she is completely unemployable. This is the "education" the Indian State provides. Her father works as a laborer, originally from Uttarakhand. The books were only in English; teacher had to teach in Hindi because the students didn't understand English. 4/
But the teacher was the product of the same education system. I doubt even the instructor, who probably was an MCA, and earning quite well in the government grades, even knew how to program.
The entire system is designed to check boxes; not to teach anything. 5/
The entire system is designed to check boxes; not to teach anything. 5/
So the unemployable student then does an HTML/CSS course to learn something useful after 3 years of computer education. She said she did a website. Even the HTML/CSS course actually doesn't include putting the code on a server; they don't actually understand what a website is. 6/
How to even interview? I started asking her some math and puzzle questions. I found she was actually bright and eager to learn, but in 15 years of education, she had never really been taught. She brightened up on grappling with puzzles.
But I was looking for a programmer. 7/
But I was looking for a programmer. 7/
Meanwhile the Chinese are teaching Artificial Intelligence in pre-school. Children are learning to program in school. By college they're becoming ace hackers or Computer Scientists.
China is systematically looking at how to develop its talent pool. 8/
China is systematically looking at how to develop its talent pool. 8/
China has honed its education system from top-down for the skills needed for the workforce. It is competing with US in high-tech, even exceeding in AI patents filed. ALL IN CHINESE MEDIUM.
India is stuck in a 19th c English curriculum and pedagogy. 9/
India is stuck in a 19th c English curriculum and pedagogy. 9/
Absolutely no thought has been put it to what is being taught in education.. Ignorant politicians rely on arrogant and inept English bureaucracy which never learned to think for itself or treat the "natives" as human. The focus is paper shuffling & degree generation. 10/
China has a laser-sharp focus on developing its human resources. It put together a thousand talents program to recruit top international talent with huge research grants. It knew it need t be a knowledge power house to be a super power. 11/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand_…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand_…
India doesn't have a clue. Millions of bright rural youngsters are being primed to become "chaprassis" as their high aspiration. Parents want child to "learn English" and "get educated." They slave to proudly get their child a BCA; but 15 years of education is a waste. 12/
India's BJP government has education as dead last in its priorities. It either has no one barely competent or has chosen to deploy the most incompetent. They should rename MHRD to Ministry of Human Resource Destruction.
Is there any mapping of workforce needs to education? 13/
Is there any mapping of workforce needs to education? 13/
The problem with English isn't the language. It is a symptom of the complete disconnect of education to anything of any use or relevance to life.
Children in rural areas are now going to English schools. An already irrelevant education is also now entirely incomprehensible. 14/
Children in rural areas are now going to English schools. An already irrelevant education is also now entirely incomprehensible. 14/
Thus lack of comprehension has become a hallmark of education. The children don't understand anything, the teachers don't understand much. Everyone has thus agreed that no understanding is required. All that is needed is to mug something up and vomit it out in a "test." 15/
I asked her if she knew Wordpress. She knew the "definition" of Wordpress. She could recite that it was a CMS built using PHP and SQL. But she had never used Wordpress. Her vomited information was of zero value. Meanwhile the Chinese are hacking into US Defence Systems. 16/
I despaired because the girl was bright. I asked her puzzles used in Microsoft interviews—they excited her—she even got some of them right with some clues. I interviewed in Hindi—after years of "English-medium" forced down her throat, she was not comfortable in English. 17/
Such a typical elite response. There is a smattering of schools in India where the elite children will go and do ICSE in English medium. They are also speaking English at home. The country cannot progress on the basis of this 5% if we leave 95% behind. 18/
Her dad is a laborer, her mother worked as a servant. There is nothing wrong with her brains. A child like that would be in a top college in China or Japan, study in a good system, and be a doctor or engineer. It is rotten education and #EnglishApartheid that holds her back. 19/
She needs a job because her mother is not well. I'll find a job for her to do. But since the govt is incapable of providing education, they should close all govt schools. Give every child a voucher for education, test them for math and native language skills in grade 5 & 8. 20/
But @narendramodi ji and @DrRPNishank ji should be clear. We can never bring development without building a knowledge economy for the future. China has.
And we can never build a knowledge economy without bringing education to the masses in their languages. No country has. 21/21
And we can never build a knowledge economy without bringing education to the masses in their languages. No country has. 21/21
Sure, send resume.
Resume doesn’t have to be about degree. It is a map of what you have learnt, what projects you have worked on. It is a basis for me to frame questions so I’m asking you about what you claim to know.
Part of dumb Indian systems. At Microsoft I rejected someone with a degree from MIT (they couldn't code), hired someone with no degrees (Bill Gates doesn't have a BA even).
Because education is disconnected from learning people are obsessed with degrees.
Because education is disconnected from learning people are obsessed with degrees.
