Tuesday, November 29, 2005

"We are the best!" Do you think so for Sure? Think twice.

So you'r not sure! Check this out, why not.
'India does not produce enough good computer engineers and those it does are good at theory but not very well equipped to handle the practical aspects.' -- Microsoft Chief Technical Officer Craig Mundie. He also adds that
'India did not have enough software companies nor are enough companies developing India-specific applications.' The reason, Mundie argued, was the poor quality of the country's software engineers.
'There are so few Indian software companies developing local software. That is a negative reinforcement, because there is no local software and no new applications.'
'The problem with the engineers can be attributed to policy issues… Universities in India, did not get proper funding for research and were not directed towards software development.'
'[Indian] Computer engineers are more into theory and less in managing businesses, building businesses or writing source codes, the key to software development.'
Experts agree with Mundie, because India's software engineers can work cheaply and quickly, but when it comes to quality, industry experts are unanimous in their opinion: Few Indian software engineers are probing new frontiers, raising the bar or exploring new horizons.
Compare this to the 15 to 30 per cent that every major economy -- including Taiwan and Brazil -- spends on national research and development. China's research and development spending, especially in engineering fields, for example, is a good 10 per cent, says a recent Forbes study. All of Europe produces 100,000 engineering graduates a year, and America produces only 70,000.
From its 113 universities and 2,088 colleges -- many of which teach various engineering disciplines -- India produces nearly 350,000 engineering graduates every year.
Retired engineering professor K S Madhavan says research and development in engineering has been in a state of decline in the last few decades because of the poor state of affairs in India's colleges. Engineering colleges in the country have been growing at 20 per cent a year, while business schools have grown at 60 per cent annually.
Five Indian states -- Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Kerala -- account for 69 per cent of India's engineers. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Orissa account for only 14 percent.
But, the quality of Indian engineers is questionable, says Madhavan, who has had a career spanning four decades and is now advisor to several engineering colleges in Karnataka and Kerala. "That is because of the lack of trained faculty and the dismal State spending on research and development in higher education in the country," he says.
In the 1980s, India had just 158 engineering colleges. That number has jumped to 1,208 in the last two decades, mainly because of the information technology boom and the ever-burgeoning capitation fee that self-financing colleges charge.
Every year, these engineering colleges admit about 350,000 students.
Apart from this, nearly 3,500 students are absorbed into the seven premier Indian Institutes of Technology.
Currently, India produces barely 400 engineering PhDs per year, mostly from the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, as opposed to 4,000 produced in the basic sciences.
Considering whole story and statistical figures, I believe we need to concentrate following two frontiers.
Education reforms at large scale as well as war footing, where-in we empower every student to create new markets and demand based on own interest and vision which cater to their skill sets than jumping like herd of sheep on West created markets.
We need balance of modernization, civilization of science & rich heritage, culture conservation. As for e.g. we see demand for arts and science has taken back seat against demand for Business, IT, ITES and media courses.
We need more visionaries and reformers like Rajaram Mohan Roy, Dr. Sarvapalli Radhkrishnan and like them suiting contemporary situations.

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