All I can say is "good luck, you'll need it." I don't think India has a unique problem with its' higher ed system.
Consider that the modern university is based on ideas developed in the late Middle Ages, throw in a healthy dash of politics (both formal and informal), and the gatekeeper factor, why would any university feel the need to change?
Do today's kids have the gumption to boycott the system? We didn't - instead we adapted, just like the kids at St. Stephen's.
To be fair to Indians, we Americans probably get even more agitated at criticism from outside (or inside.)
Consider that the modern university is based on ideas developed in the late Middle Ages, throw in a healthy dash of politics (both formal and informal), and the gatekeeper factor, why would any university feel the need to change?
To be fair, the idea of the university got started in the Middle Ages but they have changed quite a bit since; if you're interested in the subject, take a look at the latest edition of Clark Kerr's book The Uses of the University, which traces changes in American universities from the post-War period to the present. Louis Menand's The Marketplace of Ideas is also very good.
(Disclaimer: I'm writing my dissertation on academic novels.)
Comments
All I can say is "good luck, you'll need it." I don't think India has a unique problem with its' higher ed system.
Consider that the modern university is based on ideas developed in the late Middle Ages, throw in a healthy dash of politics (both formal and informal), and the gatekeeper factor, why would any university feel the need to change?
Do today's kids have the gumption to boycott the system? We didn't - instead we adapted, just like the kids at St. Stephen's.
To be fair to Indians, we Americans probably get even more agitated at criticism from outside (or inside.)
Consider that the modern university is based on ideas developed in the late Middle Ages, throw in a healthy dash of politics (both formal and informal), and the gatekeeper factor, why would any university feel the need to change?
To be fair, the idea of the university got started in the Middle Ages but they have changed quite a bit since; if you're interested in the subject, take a look at the latest edition of Clark Kerr's book The Uses of the University, which traces changes in American universities from the post-War period to the present. Louis Menand's The Marketplace of Ideas is also very good.
(Disclaimer: I'm writing my dissertation on academic novels.)
Ooooh, I have been looking for precisely a book on that topic. Thanks!
If you're deeply interested in these things, send me an e-mail—the address is in my profile.