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In search of excellence?

anon_d@indiatimes.com

This is in response to your article, In Search of excellence (November 26). While it is extremely easy to say that the present generation are not as intellectually motivated as the previous lot, the present lot is a product of the system created by these very seniors.

Take for example the NCERT, the body that frames the syllabi for the class X and XII CBSE board. The syllabi setters and consultative committees hardly see eye to eye in terms of content. Right through school, an empahsis is placed on examination rather then understanding, both of which are not necessarily linked. This might make our students score high marks, at times in competitive exams too but does not necessarily make them intelligent.

While it may be true that the number of Ph.Ds graduating from India is diminishing, the number of Indians qualifying for Ph.Ds is not. What I mean is that every year several Indian students go to countries such as the US, UK and Germany to do Ph.Ds in te chnology and Science.

Nobody seems to be interested in trying to find out the reasons why so many students prefer to go abroad for higher studies. The reason is not that the money is less. It is more to do with the high scale of inflexibility in the IITs and IISc in terms of course coverage.

Also, talking about government aid in the form of fellowships and scholarships to encourage young minds is not correct in the given scenario.

In conclusion, I feel that the people who make the system should sit up and take notice about how their system is backfiring. I would request these people to create awareness among those who invest in our country, and change age-old policies. Only then w ill the Chinese model succeed.