Schools or Karkhanas?

Schools or Karkhanas?

In the Past: A student would say “Wow! I got a seat in that reputed College”

Now:  The college management would say “Wow! We got a new student” One can understand the plight of education. The values in education withered away with the advent of corporate giants like Sri Chaitanya,NRI Narayana, Bhasyam, Nalanda, Corporate education assumes the trends of a mafia racket in the state.

These corporate business houses resort to crude business strategies with the sole agenda of admissions and turned teaching staff into peddlers and ultimately made education a door to door business.  They have successfully caught the pulse and weakness of the parents on which they laid firm foundation for their magnificent dream castles. In the name of fulfilling the students’ dreams they have fulfilled their dreams. Successful students are few failure students out number the successful students. Majority students slave out their time and lose their money, health and sometime life unable to withstand the corporate pressure. This is the truth. Majority students pay for the minority success. But the truth is hidden under the carpet. Advertisements camouflage the facts. Corporate gimmicks win. The annual private market size for the segment I – XII is estimated at 22 to 26 thousand crores. The corporate eyes are fixed on this figure but not on education or values. The picture that emerges in surveys is appalling - 60% of students aged 7 to 12 can not read a simple paragraph according to PRATHM’S ASER survey.

In their latest report National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) said that Indian IT firms reject 90% of college graduates and 75%of engineers because they're unemployable Recently Mr.Chidambaram stated that 90% of Indian graduates are unemployable.  What is the hidden meaning in this statement?  What does it imply? It implies that there are plenty of jobs in the market but there are no suitable candidates. Why are they not suitable? Don’t they have the qualifications? They have qualifications but they don’t have qualities. Their language and communication skills are hopeless. The Indian student has admirable qualifications, excellent scores or grades but alas they are not fit for good jobs. They are nothing but waste for the corporate companies. So they just throw them out. This is the sad reality. This is what 90% students realize at the fag end of their studies. Then who are preparing these hopeless graduates?      

But who is to be blamed? Who is responsible for this pathetic situation? Let’s question differently. Who is producing this waste? Our schools and colleges. Especially our corporate schools that sell big dreams like EAMCET, IIT, JEE, JIPMER etc. They're the trail blazers and trend setters. All other small schools inevitably struggle in the same way for their survival. Before the advent of these corporate schools students better off. Now students are getting marks but they can’t read, write or speak clearly. How can anybody employ them? In Bhasyam Schools at least 30 engineering graduates are working as hostel wardens. What is the god of getting Engineering degree or good marks?

Corporate Schools or Kharkahanas?

Education is the name of a business and corporate education aims at exploiting the rich and the upper middle class. Maybe some parents chose them under the spell of five star ambience created by the schools while some parents chose them for marks. Anywhere majority of the students are losers for the sake of minority students in the corporate schools and colleges. The actual statistics reveal the facts. The truth lies on the surface and it is evident.

The corporate educational set-up in the country under-prepares the students. It takes wrong and incompetent people for teaching jobs. Their sole objective is to economize heavily on teachers salaries. Magnificent building, expensive furniture, the tinted glasses, the air-conditioned class rooms. They have every thing so neatly set before your eyes. Any thinking mind gets the obvious doubt whether they are Schools or Karkahanas.

Sri Chaitanya, Narayana, Nalanda, Kesav reddy, Gautam Model,Bhasyam, NRI all are the pieces of the same roll of cloth who are in a rush to make big money. They spend heavily on advertisements to create a make-belief that their school is a different world - a paradise.  They entrust this eye catching job to professional ad makers like Eye-ads who successfully depict smiling faces in hi-tech environment. Luxury, lavishness. Should we commercialize education so much? Can’t we make it simple? Schools are the places where we can try to lessen the commercialization; we can’t use media for this purpose because media is highly commercial. But very unfortunately these schools are more commercialized than media.

The big bait

After all the show there should be bait. 

The marks. 580,  590 (but what avail?) The banners that exhibit the Marks are the life line of the schools now-a-days. They shout like hawkers in the TV ads. 6,6,6, 7,7,7, 9,9,9, 12, 12, 12, 16, 16, 16, 18,18, 18. You keep hearing. They keep shouting. But unfortunately  parents fall for these sounds. The corporate coffers are filled. It sounds good to send a child to a corporate school. 

All that glitters is not gold.  

Glitters and gadgets can’t add  quality to education. Who can add quality to education? What are the actual inputs in the education?  The comforts?  The computers?  The gadgets? None but the Skilled and experienced teachers.  Quality teachers are available but the managements are reluctant to attract cream by paying high salaries. After all the criterion for hiring in education industry is just to monitor the class. In many schools the bright students are often better than the teachers. What is the hiring philosophy of the schools and colleges? It is one and the same in most schools “Hiring Cheap labour”. There is hardly any difference between the salary of an ayah and of a teacher in majority schools. Most often teachers who work for low wages are given appointment without second thought. That’s why a very high percentage of teachers in Vijayawada, Hyderabad and Visakhapatan fall in the salary range of Rs.2000 to 5000. A very small percentage of teachers are above Rs.8000.  You will be surprised to know that a corporate college in Vijayawada recently appointed an English lecturer for a monthly salary of Rs.2800. It is easy guess for anybody to determine the kind of goods delivered to students. No scribe can describe how the corporate managements torture the teachers. It is better described by Shakespeare. If available the corporate managements would like to buy robots for 500 or 1000. It is one time investment for them. They can put the robot teachers in cupboard after day’s work. They don’t ask for leave. They don’t look for Sundays. They don’t ask for increments. Most importantly they don’t express their views. But it is for their bad stars they don’t have robot or gadgets available for teaching. What about the students?

Now –a-days we see almost every school using the same high flown language. e- learning, Holistic approach, Student centric approach, stress free environment are hackneyed by the corporate schools. Shaping global citizens, making world leaders are also widely used quite without thought. But how many people believe their words? Even they are not serious about what they say. If they were serious they would act differently.

Unethical trends in Andhra Pradesh

Srichaitanya institutions are either mills or poultries. Certainly they are not schools or colleges. Teachers work like salves.  Students are Child labor. Their movements are monitored by hi-tech gadgets. The human element in learning is totally missing here. They have to work as per the program with the objective of Ranks. A student wakes up at 4.30 am and his day begins. It ends at 10.30 pm. This is the pitiable campus life of SriCahitanya student. Eighteen hours of work! Yes. That’s all. This is creative learning. The students need at least seven to eight hours of sleep in that tender age. But who cares? The students associations like ABVP keep quiet. Perhaps they have been silenced with a corporate strategy. Even Sundays these children have no off. What they become in future God knows but they will surely become child labour in the corporate schools.

That’s why Suicides. A large number of students 15 and 22 years in Andhra Pradesh account for the most number of suicides which has the second highest rate of suicide in the country after West Bengal. Though the official records of the National Crime Records Bureau state that almost 1.5 lakh suicides and 10 lakh attempts take place annually in India, the actual figures are higher. “The 2010 crime reports indicate that on an average, there are 43 suicides in AP every day, Between April and June 2010, 52 students from corporate colleges committed suicide due to academic pressure.

 Ranks or marks are education. Ranks get students admissions into Engineering or

Medicine in premier institutions. Success is getting seat in IIT and going to America which is a service to their motherland or else joining a multinational company with a huge salary which is service to society. A job in a local company with a small salary is understood as life spoiled. This is the credo in corporate schools. Is it education or Craving for wealthy living?  Corporate school managements are responsible for not educating the parents who are no less responsible to the misery of our country.

In his open heart talk on ABN Dr.B.S.Rao Said “ 90% of IIT students work for foreign countries” The students aim at IIT, JEE, AIEEE, JIPMER. The corporate Kharkahnas start the foundry work. Thank God we did not have this corporate mess long ago lest Abdul Kalam would have settled abroad. Swamy Vivekananda would have studied medicine and settled in UK instead of going to America on a spiritual mission. Can the corporate schools inspire their students in Kalam or Vivekananda’s path with their crude commercial ways?  Look at their business promotion strategies.

Whole sale and retail business perspective in Education.

When you buy fruits, clothes or stationery in bulk quantity it is common that you get good discount from any merchant. The more you buy the less is the price. Educational institutions follow the same philosophy. Get your friends and join in a group then your fee will be much less.

Door to door Marketing.

In a highly competitive market people must go to the door of the customers. It is true. But can an educational institute do the same? You may say “no”. But it is “yes” for the corporate educational institutes. Chaitanya, Narayana, Nalanda, Bhasyam and many others have marketing staff. Some schools and colleges prefer to send their teaching staff

to this direct marketing activity. The teachers must oblige the marketing duty given by the school lest they should forget about their job.  After all the objective of Educational institutions is admissions.

Role of Agents in Admissions.

Another feasible business strategy adopted by the corporate schools and colleges is appointing agents. They give teachers with reputation especially those who are running tuition centers successfully a lum-sum of say Rs.50,000 along with admission forms. The teacher recommends a corporate school or college get the form filled by the student and also collects the fee. He gets his commission. Thus they justify the role of a commission agent more than that of a teacher.

Hi-Tech mafia racket?

The community became is sophisticated and notorious racket that it became an organized crime group. The modern corporate schools are extremely effective at raising children people who could not possibly develop any character.

Corporation Schools are far better

The Private Schools in Andhra Pradesh are undoubtedly offering better amenities when compared with the Government Schools. But still the results of the Government Schools in Andhra Pradesh are getting as good as their private counterparts!