The higher education sector has in India always been under discussion and debate for long. Recently the Prime Minister has agreed that there is an increased need to improve research and Development in India and this has resulted in the creation of positive sentiments on the academic front once again.  These debates and discussion that are happening calls for the need of new policies in the field of education. But there is another concern to be addressed. It is about the respect and recognition for the teachers and the practice of learning beyond the examinations.

Research needs a culture beyond exams

The intense desire for research and innovation is not something that happens all of a sudden by itself. It is for sure that an additional investment would help in enhancing the research activities, but there is a more basic issue that needs to be addressed in the education system in India. The education system in India has not become mature after the colonial rule as compared to the developed countries. The ideology behind the education system is novel to the core, but what is wrong is with the implementation and the evolution which has become standstill over a significant period of time. The main reason behind this standstill is the lack of practice of learning beyond the exams.

Learning for excellence lacks in India

In India there is quality education, but the number of people studying for the sake of learning is very less in number. Education has become a means to get an employment and as a result everything else has becomestreamlined towards this goal. For instance, let us consider the case of any above average student who is not from an Indian Institute of Technology across India. Most of them (not all of them), with marks below 75 percentage do not learn for the sake of the knowledge. Their objective is to somehow pass the exams by reproducing what they have memorized into the answer sheet. From this one thing is clear that they do not learn much from the class rooms. This results in a condition where such students go through the curve of learning, but through the curve of memorizing. In their desperate attempt to prepare for the examinations, their potential to become creative is diminished. As a result, people become less interested to move towards the research stream since they do not go through the process of learning. Another important reason for this is in addition to exam mania is the teaching factor that de-motivates students from pursuing research.

The condition of teacher in India

Teachers in India are doing an extremely tough job. One important problem that they face is that they are underpaid. Another problem that they face is that they are not given due attention and respect and in some cases are looked down upon by the society. The condition in India is that teachers are not competent enough and they are not attracted by the teaching profession but are in the profession somehow. This is mostly observed in the case of younger people coming into the profession of teaching. The young people who pursue the teaching profession are confused and moreover they are victims of an education system which is based on learning which involves a lot of mugging up. So we cannot expect them to develop the learning experience in the upcoming generation. There is no point in blaming such teachers as they themselves are not competent enough to bring about changes in the field of education which has shaped them. We cannot expect to have competent teachers unless they are paid handsomely as in the case of other attractive professions. This signifies the important role of money in education and its improvement.

It needs much more than infrastructure development

The mistake that we have committed and is still continuing to commit is that we are investing only in developing infrastructure. There is minimal effort in trying to invest in quality faculty which should be extended to grass root level and to professors in the universities. The status of academic scholars has deteriorated with their achievement appearing in the back pages of the news paper, while that of politicians and film stars appear in the front of the same newspapers. It is high time to ask whether academicians are given the due attention they deserve. Leave aside the Padma award, have we heard of any public recognition that is instituted to recognize the contributions made the academicians in the country. How many of the people in India know that 2012 is Sri Ramanuja year? This is as a result of the chaotic state of affairs in the priorities of the country with respect to education and academics. Any attempt on the boundary of intellectual is observed to be too tired for our mind, not because we are not competent to do it, just because we can’t be bothered to show respect. What the teachers today need is a little bit of respect and recognition in the present condition.

It is time to change

It is high time to realize that quality research does not come as a result of monetary investment, but from a deep rooted practice of learning within the system. This sense of learning within the system evolves from the teachers at the university or school level who are the indispensable part of the process. The quality of the faculty can only be maintained if there is an effort to fulfill their needs, both monetary and due recognition. This would help in attending to the root cause of our poor quality in research as compared to global standards.

A culture of learning should be developed with the aid of the system, along with monetary investment, which will result in the creation of world class researchers.