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The Magical Marriage
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11-2004/1204
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Source: India
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Times News Network
Somewhere in the late '80s. That's when it all began. A committee headed by Abid Hussain brought to fore the handicap crippling the scientific Community in India for years. In simple, straight terms, for the first time, it held that research in the coun-try was mostly irrelevant, quality of education lop-sided and the morale of the scientific Community abysmal,contributing to brain drain.The commit-tee's findings were not exclusive to just science, the indifference and irrelevance applied to almost every field, be it technical, arts, or even elementary education. When even the government looked clueless on putting things on track, it was industry that came to the rescue. After all, it's they who suffered the most from the poor quality of students. In a rever-sal of sorts, the demand-supply chain was altered. Instead of supply feeding the demand, demand tried tailoring supply of its own.The industry-academia honeymooning has, since then, taken diverse routes, changing the landscapeof education in India in the process.lt is such frenzied momentum of bonding that spurred Education Times to celebrate the industry-academia liaison, coinciding with our fifth anniversary celebrations. On a breezy December afternoon,along the poolside of a plush city hotel we brought togeth-er some head honchos representing both facets of, what we call, the AMAZING ALLIANCE: Two vice-chancellors —ProfM.S. Thimmappa, VC, Bangalore University and ProfK. Balaveera fteddy, VC, Visvesvaraya Technological University, the directorofone ofthe country's premier technol-ogy 'Institutes, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIIT-B), Prof S. Sadagoppan gathered to lend the academia perspective. Demystifing industry's role was left to Intel India President, Ketan Sampath, Diamant Triumph Metallplastic's Executive Director, G.Srivastava and Dheeraj (or Deej, as the party ani-mals ofthe Pub City know him), a self-made DJ, who gave Bangalore one ofits first DJ-training schools,EV DJs at Work. "It's a bonding both are craving for. Here, one partner needs as as much as the other," was Prof Sadagopan's take on these increasing tie-ups. Balaveera Reddy saw students benefiting from such pacts more than industry or an institute."At the end of the day, it is students who reap thebeneifits. By inculcating industry inputs into the curri Is that all to this marriage? What about Jobs? "Job-readiness or employability is not the over-whelming aspect. The emphasis is on basics. We need Institutes to instil strong basic concepts in stud*nts so as to enable them to cope with diver5? tasks their Job entails," said Ketan Sampath. Besides making students job-ready, the Coming together helps in research. "Cutting-edge technolo-gies have emerged out of such pacts in the field of science. Given the paucity of resources,we,at Bangalore University, are proposing to set up nodal centres in the city to encourage research in biotechnology. Instead of one-on-one tie-ups, a düster of institutes and industry will gather at these laboratories to come out with mutually beneficial research/'Thimmappa explained. Then we decided to throw in a googly. But are these alliances all so innocent and holy? Some opinions are that often corporates, especially IT companies, simply use these tie-ups to peddle their Software to a captured audience. Steering away from long-term pursuits in Neu of short-term gains in another danger. Cutting-edge inventions emerging out of industry-institute col-laborations pose another challenge: Who owns the intellectual property rights? Students' role is another aspect altogether. Are students, at all levels, ignored while forging these pacts? This per-ception was bluntly rubbished. "It is for the wel-fare of students that we seek industry alliances. And we do study what we need to offer our students," Reddy justified. Though both Indian and MNC companies pledge substantial faith in partnering with institutes, the proactive role of governments, whether at the Centre or State, however, came under a Scanner, the Suggestion of having a reg-ulator to monitor tie-ups was dismissed in uni-son, with academicians calling it a"regressive" move. "It's better we keep these alliances free from babudom.The government should, in fact, encourage such tie-ups and let us learn from our mistakes." Yes, these tie-ups have, in more than one way, revoiutionised education in India. Now a posse of corporates are even lining up to improve the State of our elementary schools. In Karnataka alone, nearly 8,000 government schools have been 'adopted' by the industry and individuals investing over Rs 60 crore. In the days to come, the bonding is not only bound to get stronger, but better. Besides, IT,engi-neering, management, and elementary education (a microscopical view unfolds in the following pages), even non-mainstream areas of education will emerge as forces to reckon with. "In fact, they already are," said DJ Dheeraj."Today you can make a career out of anything you are good at. So many youngsters want to take up DJing but earlier did not know how to do it— today there are many Professionals offering to teach the art of DJing in a formal classroom atmosphere. This has given employment opportunities to many youngsters," he added. Industry-academia interdependence notwith-standing, there's a third front emerging. Corporates and industries venturing to setting-up own institutes was an aspect heavily debated."So long as the products passing out of these institutes can deliver what the industry demands, it's fine. But offering tailor-made courses to suit individual Company interests can be a concern area," the panel feit. Though, in India, the industry-academic pacts are in a nascent stage, American technological prowess has been built on such partnerships. "Still, India is far ahead compared to other coun-tries. Germany and France can pick a leaf out of our books," highlighted Sadagopan. Back home, the honeymoon between the industry and institute is getting romantic. And, there are no family planning restrictions here. More the merrier! Footnote:Guess what's common between Google, Cisco, Sun,Silicon GraphicsYes, we know that you know that all ofthem are IT companies. What eise? They all germinated at Stanford University! Amazing Alliance! |
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