Today a friend (RJK) emailed the link to the home page of a website of an Engineering college in Keralam.
His desperate question to me was
"
Of all the names, UKFC of Engineering & Technology
I dont get it. Is it that difficult to get a decent name? ".
Though I was appalled at the standard of writing on the Home Page, I was not surprised at what
the State of Education in
THE State of Education has been reduced to. There are many things worth considering here. We first take a historical look at the stakeholders of Kerala society.
In keeping with their altruistic and suicidal mindsets, for years, both 'the Catholic Church' and - its bastard offspring - 'the Left', abhorred "Professional" Colleges. A profession in this article will mean an activity you could work at and "earn money". Oh the horrors -
" 'selling something as nobil aas edukayshun for mani ! How could you ?', 'Teaching people a profitable trade/skill/knowledge ! Why don't you tell them to serve their fellow men and work for humanity?' ", etc. They were generally supported by the other (mostly collectivist) participants in Kerala society in where Merchants are considered 'cheap' or 'mean' people and only Land Owners or Factor Owners or Government Employees or Political Leaders or Religious Leaders are to be respected.
In this moronic but highly "educated" society in Keralam these days, Medicine and Engineering are considered the only 2 professions considered "respectable" . The Left opposed approving and starting
private Medical and Engineering colleges for many years. So what did Keralites do? They went to the
gelf (willing to do anything or to Africa usually as teachers), made a lot of money and sent their kids to the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to learn anything that was useful in the job market - MBBS, BDS, B.E, Nursing, MBA, etc. The Church was particularly disinclined to start Engineering Colleges as it "was not as noble as being a Nurse or Doctor" and "did not serve humanity".
The dynamic duo then had a change of heart. They suddenly decided that it was all good. Fiat Lux. And then there was light. Then the big bang happened, the sudden explosion of Engineering and Medical colleges out of a
desert of cogunut tree greenery. The left and it's puppet student wing the SFI quietly grumbled and made a fuss but not strongly enough to oppose the entry of private players. Even so, they did try to usurp control of the private colleges once the money had been spent by the managements. This has been a regular pattern on Keralam over the past 6 decades. Oppose the rich guy. Make him wait a long time before he can invest any money. Then let him do it - act uninterested. Once he has reached a point of no return, harass him and usurp as much control as you can of HIS PROPERTY so that you can then play Elsworth Toohey.
The Christian Churches (mostly Catholic ones) on their part now have around 7 Engg colleges of their own and even their own private Engg University. Maybe they finally realised that the Industrial and IT Revolutions have done more for Humanity than Mother Theresa and the Dark Ages. Maybe it just made good business sense.
This explosion in quantity has - as can be expected - brought with it a decrease in the overall quality of the colleges and the students. They now try all kinds of tricks to recruit students and this free-er market in education has made Engineering, Medical and Management Education accessible to many more natives than it was a decade ago. It has also brought down the cost of Engineering and Management, drastically - if one factors in inflation. The SFI's opposition to Private Colleges was that poor students would be denied an "equal" opportunity. Well maybe they preferred it the way it was back then - when we were an egalitarian society - where everyone was unemployed and miserable - EQUALLY !
The standards have also gone down in the way the colleges present themselves. Besides the poor grammar and spelling, they have shown some students who definitely don't look Keralite or Malayali but Caucasian. Oh Well ! I guess with 2nd generation Malayalis coming back home from abroad for a cheaper education, we need to make them feel at home and maybe get them to drag a few of their friends along too ... show them some Multiculturalism and create a nascent market for Educational Tourism and whatever new market there is to milk revenues from.
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I have copied the page as it was today to preserve it from any edits in future. Also given 2 screen shots with system time as proof.
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Universal Knowledge Foundation, a trust registered under the Indian Trust Act, established at an auspicious moment in the year 2008, with the primary objective of rendering selfless, dedicated and yeomen service to cause of higher education originally in the field of Engineering & Technology and subsequently in the fields of Management, Arts, Science, and Paramedical Sciences
With the world moving towards the knowledge based society, the importance of the "knowledge" has increased everywhere. The rich - poor divide, may as a consequence be turned to knowledge rich and knowledge poor society. In such a situation, the institute has a vital role to play in disseminating knowledge among the student community. The institute will try to its best to produce quality man power. The institute shall promote strong link between its essential cultural values reflected in study of engineering.
Our policy on quality
We are committed for moulding young engineers by providing consistent good education. We focus on the engineering education of a high quality by including positive attitude, technical competence, and by adopting and complying with Quality Management System. We also attempt to continuously improve the education system by adopting appropriate scientific approaches
