Kartikey Shukla for BeyondHeadlines
Karnataka is in national news for the admission scam, which is not a new case in India especially in engineering and medicine colleges. ‘Engineer and doctor’, these two professions have been choice for most of the science school graduates since last two decades.
There is a structure in which these two dreams operates, family and social environment always put pressures on science graduates to choose their career either in engineering or medicine. Indian middle class and especially rural youths haven’t think out of this choices, I have meet many my engineers friend who never thought to get into engineering college but went in because of family pressure and didn’t realize future out of these courses.
They hated throughout the course and now planning to adopt other profession after spending rigorous years of their bachelors days. How these ‘admission nexus’ works in India, the country of young enthusiasts, populated and appropriately less colleges against huge demand for such professional courses.
Overwhelming craze among Indian youths for engineering and medical degree created by market or for job security in both the professions. In engineering, ten years of job booms seemed shrinking after looking into recent job placements. There are less people creating jobs but a large chunk of youth engineer depends on jobs in private companies.
Engineering colleges including IITs, NITs and state government colleges, there are comparably less institutions as per its demand. Private players except few good ones, there are engineering colleges running in worst condition without having well qualified professors, research, laboratory facilities and job security.
We have to see the path which generally travelled by most of the engineering students in recent years, first – they are bound to take decision to become engineer because their parents don’t see any other option except becoming engineer.
‘Coaching markets of competitive exams’ emerged in India; you can see coaching Mandis in cities across India. Students pay huge money to compete in all India competitive exams against very limited sits available in government engineering colleges, they spend minimum a year in exam preparation.
These coaching institutions have history of involvement in leaking exams paper, appointing fake students to write examination and taking bribes to secure sits in colleges.
There are no checks and balances of private institutions in engineering and medical sciences, even the national regularity body (Medical Council of India) have been accused of corruption in sanctioning new medical colleges in India.
Most of the engineering colleges run by politicians in my home state of Uttar Pradesh have flourished their business after taking donation from students and bribing regulatory bodies. It is not the new business but has very less importance for public because the class who raised questions nationally is really involved in this process of creating this ‘black market’.
