Talent: The education system Funnel! (Post #1 of 4)
This is Post # 1 from a Series of 4 Posts
Looking closer at our education system, I find that it is a Funnel first and a Learning System later. More often than not, it is a system where we Learn how to Learn! We are exposed to a historical account of a subject's evolution first, irrespective of whether it is an Arts course or an Engineering course. As far as technology is concerned, the students are also exposed to the technical details that enable them to solve problem simulations. In the end, it is left to the student to apply their learning in the real-life scenarios when they take up jobs. Another observation I made was that very few people apply very little of what they learn in their graduation course as they progress in their careers and lives!
The funnel system works like this;
- 1st Funnel: 10th Grade - this is the initial funnel and helps to decide who takes up Science, Commerce or Arts going forward. Those with high grades/marks are pushed the Science way by default, no questions asked. The rest choose between Commerce and Arts.
- 2nd Funnel: 12th Grade - those who take up science are funneled to Engineering, Medicine or a Bachelor's degree in science. Those who take up commerce are funneled to a Bachelor's degree in Commerce. And, those who take up arts are funneled to a Bachelor's degree in Arts or some other related course.
- 3rd Funnel: Graduation - those who graduate on top of their class, either take up jobs or take the next step in education, i.e., a Master's Degree. This funnel decides the kind of jobs that a student may apply for - meaning, those who perform really well are hired by companies visiting the campus (depending on the course and college the student is from), and those with average performances are forced to take up lesser paying jobs. The choice of a Master's Degree is solely dependent on whether the student really wants to study for two more years or not, and this choice is available to any student who has scored above average grades.
I am not considering what happens to those who are stuck in each of the funnels. From my understanding, these candidates either jump to other funnels (jump across education streams! Science to Commerce or Commerce to Arts). And, those that decide not to jump into other funnels, I'm not sure what they do.
The students exit each funnel depending on their marks or grades in the descending order! Meaning, the students with the highest marks exit first from one funnel and move into the next funnel in line. It really does not matter what stream the student chooses, it all happens in the same way.
Summarizing the idea, our education system determines talent based on the marks or grades that the student secures.
After the choice of a university course is made, most students usually focus on attending classes and getting good grades. A deep-rooted expectation is that they will complete their course and then get jobs later one. In India, a degree in Engineering or Medicine is the default choice if the student manages to qualify for it. Next, the student's marks decide the choice of a College Degree or the selection of the College itself.
Summarizing the idea, our education system determines talent based on the marks or grades that the student secures.
After the choice of a university course is made, most students usually focus on attending classes and getting good grades. A deep-rooted expectation is that they will complete their course and then get jobs later one. In India, a degree in Engineering or Medicine is the default choice if the student manages to qualify for it. Next, the student's marks decide the choice of a College Degree or the selection of the College itself.
Now, this brings us to the concept of talent. The talent a student possesses really has little to do with grades in my opinion.
More on Talent in my next post.
More on Talent in my next post.
Next post in the series: Talent: Determining Talent (Post #2 of 4)
Comments
Post a Comment