Education as a Service or Education as a Business??

It is a hot topic in Tamil Nadu, India. School and College education becoming a money spinning business. Making money through education is viewed as a crime by many.

Some technical details... As per Government policy, every educational institution must be registered as a service organization with no profit in mind. So, the educators start such institutions and also start another company. This other company will provide services to the educational institutions. In turn, the institutions will pay outlandish fees. Thus an educator is a noble service provider and also a great business person. Many have become millionaires in this.

The problems erupted when the parents find the increasing fees of education a great burden. Of course parents can admit their students in Government schools. But most parents do not like Government schools. Good teachers, moderate infrastructure and somewhat achieving students of Government schools will be featured in news paper. Such is the level.

The fundamental question is, How can private educators provide good infrastructure, good teaching, good exposure to arts/science/business/etc., with the amount Government fixes? It is common for private schools to have Tennis court, Swimming pool, etc. If enough money is not collected from students, the educators can not provide such facilities to students. After all, we want more Indians to be Olympic medalists and Nobel prize winners. Instead of stifling private educators with "money matters", they are to be regulated with "student beneficial matters". For example, students should not be made to skip 11th standard subjects to jump and mug up 12th standard subjects in order to show "results". Private educators must be allowed to profit from business without compromising on student benefits.

Economically backward people should have a level playing field as well. It is just required for the Government to improve the standard of education in Government schools and open new schools.

The current involvement of the Government in Education is not just fixing the fees and providing free bicycles, uniforms and books. Government has to have strict regulatory control to bring up students with the best knowledge, sports and social wellness.

Anyways, I have not heard of Government opening new schools; however I do hear of Government opening new TASMAC ( the Government owned liquor shops) outlets every now and then.

Transportation during summer holidays

As people's income raise, they are interested in going to their native towns or to touristy places. The pressures of studying hard and working hard makes people to think about vacation the moment summer holidays begin in schools.

It is such a pleasure to take train trips across India. It is very difficult to accept why the Government is not doing enough to satisfy the demand. The train tickets are fully booked for months together. If the railways had been in private hands, they would have utilized this opportunity. It is absolutely essential the Government acts fast and increase the transportation capacity to meet the growing India's demand.

Melinda Gates & other impressive personalities

It gives so much energy to see people like Melinda Gates doing their philanthropic work with warmth, passion and corporate precision. Looking through their web site Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was refreshing too. There aren't disturbing images. The site has very clear content.

Ratan Tata, Azim Premji, Shiv Nadar also give so much energy to see the world differently. In an interview, Ratan Tata said that his motivation to invent the Rs. 1 Lakh car is the way a family of four commute in a bike dangerously.

The value we thrive to produce to the society is the epicenter of the energy to live.

Being an entrepreneur

The dream to be an entrepreneur is in almost everybody's thought. Atleast, in the mind of people working in software industry. It is so much ubiquitous that, when a person explicitly admits that he/she wants to just get a pay cheque from a company, he would be perceived as somebody with abnormal wishes.

Having an entrepreneurial thought/ talks / theories/ ideas is well put by somebody as "arm chair entrepreneurs". Thought or Idea is the beginning, but clinging to it for years will lead no where. It is the do-er, the risk taker wins in realizing the entrepreneurial dream. The era of "ideas" that would lead to entrepreneurial success is long gone in this internet world.

Swamijis and the scandals

How much the Swamijis of all religions have helped for world peace? If there aren't any gurus in this world, the world will be more peaceful. There won't be any organizations thus no divisions and no communal fights. Why not all these gurus stop their preachings? It is just as simple as that. Why not they stop preaching their thoughts to others? Won't the world immediately turn to peace?

The recent wake of Nityananda's sex scandal is not the first. There are examples from all religions and it is not a religious problem. It is the problem of cunning minds deceiving the mass. There are direct & indirect business and political beneficiaries.

Making all the religious gurus and organizations to abide by tight laws is indeed essential.

Ethics and journalism

I'm not sure how many people really believe what is conveyed by the media. The more and more first hand stories we hear from the concerned people directly and compare that with the media reports, we tend to lose faith.

Another aspect of losing faith in media is when they report events just to grab attention without any sort of humanity behind it. Recently I read in a tamil weekly magazine about an old actress who is penny less and lives a solitary life. Against her wish, the journalists have taken her photos and exposed her miserable situation. How selfishly the media humiliates people for their gain!

Indian's view of Human Rights

"Every citizen in the country has a right to live with dignity;".

This is taken from http://www.rightsedu.net/vip.htm as a statement from President of India. Nothing new in it. But, the president stating this means, the country's administration should take it seriously.

Clean air, potable water, a shelter to stay, hygiene facilities - are all very basic rights the Government should guarantee for a new born. I think India has provided these to some extent though corruption is wide spread. This area is acknowledged by everybody and slowly India is improving. However, I feel Indian citizens do ignore about other human rights.

It is also the right of a human being to have level playing field. It starts from basic education. Rich poor divide will never pass. However, a poor kid and rich kid must be able to get education at same knowledge level. Rich kids in air conditioned class rooms with projector and the poor kids sitting under fan-less classrooms with blackboard & chalk is acceptable. But, what is not acceptable is the knowledge level provided to the kid. There are talks about uniform syllabus for all schools, but the fundamental point is missed here. It is not syllabus that is the problem. It is the lack of skills or lack of exercising the skills in Government schools is the problem. Right to get educated well is not taken so seriously here and the vast majority just ignores this.

Another area that people just accept are the intrusions in various forms. Until Do Not Disturb (DND) is mandated by the Government the telecom companies simply ignored our cries to stop marketing calls and SMS. What is more disturbing is that many people did not find it as a violation of rights of an individual.

Another area is regarding competitive practices of conglomerates. It is quite common to see a movie being promoted in the TV channel for far lesser cost among group companies. If an external party goes for same level of promotion, the order may not be taken at all or it may be at exorbitant cost. There doesn't seem to be any law to regulate this. In developed world, this would very well be considered anti competitive practice. This again I see as violation of human rights to go ahead and succeed in business ambitions. But, many consider this not as a violation at all.