Brain Drain...Beauty Drain

The British Council of India had organised an education fair, which I had the privilege of visiting owing to my cousin, who wanted me to enquire about undergraduate studies.
So far, the phrase ‘brain drain’ was only a term for me used by ministry of HRD to hide their incompetence but here at the education fair, the sheer numbers were shouting that brain drain is real. I wanted information about computer science and engineering; I went to the stall of University of Sussex and stood next to a girl, just out of curiosity I turned my head to look at her and I saw a face (without any makeup) so pretty that it could put those so-called classic beauties of Bollywood and Hollywood to shame. ‘Hi’, she said to the firangi mem sitting on the other side of the counter, ‘My name is Shweta, I am final year student of Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Delhi. I want to know about the courses of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence’. I was already at loss of words and gaping awkwardly (and shamelessly) at mademoiselle; after these two sentences were spoken my mind was totally blanked out. From my experiences so far, I had drawn a simple conclusion which is, ‘prettier the girl, lesser the brain’ and the lady next to me had not only shattered this myth but razed it completely to ground and quashed each and every remaining rubble of it to sand.
I went through a similar experience many times during the fair, ‘I am Suchita from JMC, looking for course on advanced statistics’, ‘I am Neha looking for course on nursing’, ‘...looking for course on microbiology’ and the list goes on.
While returning from the fair, the question which I have been asking for ages was answered – ‘where have all the good looking girls of Delhi gone?’ the answer is simple, they have gone to UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand but I was not happy because another question cropped up – ‘Why are all the girls going to these places? Has our education system decayed so much? Or are these girls simply not worth enough to getting an admission in any of our prestigious universities?’
I prefer to take the former viewpoint, though not in its entirety, because if girls (and boys) from IIT are coming over to know about courses in UK then it is just impossible that those girls can not get admission in any of the other universities of India. The education system in India can not be termed as rotten. AIIMS, IIT, IIM, NID and IISc are recognized as centres par excellence worldwide. The problem is that there are only seven IIT, six IIM and one each of AIIMS, NID and IISc. People say that only crème-de-la-crème of students goes to these institutes and those getting into these institutes are nothing short of being called geniuses, I accept that but I absolutely refuse to accept that our country of one billion is capable of producing only 5000 world-class students per year when USA produces several times this number with just one-third of our population.
In India we have two types of universities: poor universities and excellent universities whereas in USA there are good universities and excellent universities. While we can count our excellent universities on fingertips, poor universities are available a dime a dozen and the government actually encourages mediocrity with states like Chattisgarh opening up private university for a bribe of few lakhs of Rupees (only a few thousand US Dollars). Regulatory bodies like AICTE and UGC, which are supposed to act as a watchdog for such farce university don’t have any power. It is like a watchdog tethered to a pole and its teeth removed.
Also, universities in India are largely dependent on UGC grants for funds and other resources. Appointment of a single teacher means clearing of all bureaucratic hurdles which takes approximately 45 days if all goes well. But all doesn’t go well; there is hardly a case where a deserving candidate is chosen, in 99% of the cases vice-chancellor of the university has to buckle under the pressure of MLA, MP or governor. If there is no pressure, then the vice-chancellor is open for bribes.
For universities to function properly there should not be any government interference which implies that universities should be self-funded to maintain their autonomy. The government’s role should be set the standards for opening of a university in terms of minimum capital requirement, land requirement and competency of the person(s) wanting to register the university. The government should not even regulate the fees, education is expensive and the students should realize that. Instead, there can scholarships for the deserving and meritorious students. True, there will be corruption in government run scholarships but at least universities will have freedom to choose their own candidates.
It will take some time for government of India to realize that education is a business much like banking and insurance. If banks can have a minimum capital requirement then so should the universities. If government allows only big players to enter into the market then the quality of intake and quality of education will be controlled because big players do not look for petty profits (like granting admission for a bribe) they look for long term profits (like brand equity which comes from having a good and successful alumni).
Enough said for today! I still can’t stop thinking about that IIT girl, maybe just maybe I will see her tomorrow if I go to IIT.