We must end the life-changing power of the college degree

The way people abuse politicians for not going to college, it seems like they have some great intelligence or skill to go to college. It’s especially amusing when the haters are undergraduates in the humanities. Very little effort is required to obtain an arts degree. Most of the people got admission in the college because they filled an application form and paid the fees. And most came out of college without any special skills or knowledge. You could argue that the controversy isn’t about the value of the college, but rather about the deception, if any. But any Indian fake art degree is only responding to an evil force. The prestige attached to college degrees is a caste system. Educated Indians are complicit in this, as they have created the stigma of being college-illiterate, one of two reasons millions of Indians are forced to fake certificates. Another reason is the absurd requirement for a college degree for so many jobs that don’t require such an education.,

The contempt for Modi’s possible lack of education is a response to his party’s growing reputation for suppressing dissent. But glorification of college education by people whose only achievement is that their parents sent them to college is also a form of bullying. Perhaps the worse kind because it has a glimmer of virtue.

In its campaign to get Modi to pay for his possibly fake degrees, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has resorted to calling him “illiterate”. AAP’s campaigns are usually very quick and effective, but this is going to work against the party. It is influenced by the high educational qualifications of Arvind Kejriwal, an engineer, and his party’s success in improving the quality of government schools. But calling Modi “illiterate” is tantamount to making fun of most Indians. It reinforces the shame of poverty or poor test-taking skills.

Often, when organizations ask for college degrees, they look for an easy way to disqualify most job applicants. This is unfair because most Indians have a poor start in life and their educational level, especially if they have gone to school, does not represent their ability to do a particular job. Why then should India promote a system that rewards people for their destiny?

If you were truly a humanitarian force, it would continue to provide high quality free education to the poor, and also campaign to eliminate the requirement of college education for government jobs that do not require college education. America has started doing exactly that. A few days ago, Barack Obama tweeted, “Here’s an example of a smart policy that gets rid of unnecessary college degree requirements and lowers barriers to good-paying jobs. I hope other states follow suit.” would follow.” He linked to an article that indicates some US states are lowering requirements and opening up opportunities to non-college-educated workers. America used to be a place where a person who didn’t go to college could still make a good living on the factory floor and still have social respect. In addition, he had the opportunity to move up in his company. But then, the rise of technology and jobs that required people to appear sophisticated, and new ways to eliminate applicants due to job shortages resulted in a massive rush for college degrees, which eventually drove up the cost of higher education. increased in American politicians and private companies are responding to end the disparity.

Many of America’s tech majors have gotten rid of the college degree requirement for some positions. Since 2011, American billionaire Peter Thiel has run a grant that bribes young people to drop out of college and start businesses.

India’s new education policy has elements that are bold and smart. It broadens the meaning of education beyond science and languages, which have long eluded many. The policy has brought some real skills such as carpentry into the mainstream school education. Furthermore, it proposes to enable an individual to leave college mid-term and resume the pursuit of a degree later. But what India needs to do is unleash the life-changing power of a piece of paper called a college degree.

There may be some arguments against this. Thousands apply for each vacancy in India. We have heard stories how hundreds of post-graduates, even engineers apply for peon jobs. If so, then removing the filter of a college degree could spell disaster. But again, this is not a fair reason to discriminate against those who could not attend college. Let the destruction happen If 1,000 postgraduates apply for the job, then let 10,000 school dropouts also apply. Finally, for jobs that require some qualification and no technical knowledge, employers should devise effective ways of selecting candidates instead of creating a meaningless caste system.

Another argument could be that if people have an incentive to go to college, they might find something useful. What’s so great about the world outside college? Most jobs are joyless. College, for all its flaws, is less monotonous than the typical entry-level job. So what’s wrong with sending Indians after a piece of paper if the chase is better than they can tolerate?

Ideally, a society should fully finance the pursuit of knowledge, but separate it from the job market. The joy of discovery or even idleness in college has value, but that doesn’t justify giving an unfair advantage to the few people who go there.

Manu Joseph is a journalist, novelist and producer of the Netflix seriesSeparate.