Which Is The Best Course?

 WHICH IS THE BEST COURSE?

"Which course must I do?" is the most basic question for youngsters (age 15-21/22). There are 3 major decision-points in education:

1. After 10th std

2. After 12th std

3. After degree

The basic question is: Which is your favourite subject? And the rule is: If your favourite subject is X, then take subject X in the next stage. Example: If your favourite subject in school is history, then do Arts in +2. What if you don't have any favourite subject*? Then take the Best Default Option at that stage. The Best Default Options at each stage are:

1. After 10th std - Science

2. After 12th std - Engineering

3. After degree - MBA

The Best Default Option is the option that will:

A. Guarantee you a decent-paying job

B. Give you the freedom/flexibility to change your path later

In 20th century India, the top 1% took medicine and the bottom 99% took engineering. In 21st century India, almost every field will pay you enough to live a middle class lifestyle (car + house + children's school fees). So youngsters must focus on discovering their potential and achieving their potential. The above education 'algorithm' may help them to do that.

*PS: If you have a hobby you are passionate about (sports, music, art, etc) you can make that your career.

Online Classes Is NOT Education

ONLINE CLASSES IS NOT EDUCATION

# Sitting in a real classroom with your classmates and discussing the subjects with your Professors is education.
# Living in a hostel with your batchmates + seniors + juniors and interacting with them is education.
# Eating in a mess with your batchmates + seniors + juniors and complaining about the bad food is education.
# Seeing your classmates, talking to them, cracking jokes with them and laughing with them is education.

# Sitting in front of a laptop at your home in your home-town is NOT education.

Classroom Education Vs Online Education

CLASSROOM EDUCATION VS ONLINE EDUCATION

"The Covid-19 crisis has changed the world forever – especially education. Classroom education is dead, obsolete and Stone Age. Online education will and should replace classroom education." This is now the consensus opinion of almost all experts and ordinary people.

I know people will call me Stone Age. But based on my 18 years experience as a student and 7 years experience as a faculty, I will say this: The classroom + blackboard + chalk is the most effective method for understanding a subject – especially complex concepts. There is no substitute for mentally wrestling with complex concepts with the help of a faculty who has been doing the same for years – along with other students who are currently doing the same.

If online education is better than classroom education because it is more 'efficient', then why stop there? Why not take this idea one step further – to its logical conclusion? Excellent textbooks are available on every subject. So the most 'efficient' option is to simply buy the textbooks, sit at home and read the textbooks. Where is the need for even an online education? To get a degree? It will be more 'efficient' for universities to only conduct exams and award degrees to those who pass the exams.

Since 1947, we have completely neglected quality and focussed only on quantity in our education. This is the #1 reason for India's under-development today. Now this online education will become another excuse to further dilute quality for the sake of quantity in our education. "We have reached X number of students", "We have trained Y number of candidates", "We have produced Z number of graduates", etc. How well have they understood the subjects? Especially complex concepts? Nobody is bothered about this.

India's School-Education System & Basic Literacy Skills

My students are bombarding me with demands for the 'notes' for my subjects. Last year's lectures have been recorded and the videos are available to them. They also have the textbook - its PDF is available free on the Internet. Still they are insisting on 'notes'.

For understanding a subject, the most effective method is listening to a lecture. The second most effective method is reading a good textbook. The least effective method is reading 'notes'. Still my students are insisting on 'notes'.

How do we understand a subject through the first two (effective) methods? The process consists of these steps:
1. Reading/Listening
2. Understanding
3. Thinking logically
Now these also happen to be basic literacy skills - which are the foundation for all other skills. Once students have these fundamental skills, they can develop other higher level skills.

So if the students are insisting on 'notes', that means they do not have these basic literacy skills. This is a damning indictment of India's school-education system. It means that we are basically producing a nation of educated illiterates. How will we survive in the 21st century - which is the Knowledge Century?