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A recent cover story on the global opportunity for training
companies in this magazine is a welcome recognition of the contribution our
local gurus can make in the global arena. However, the key point was made in the
very last paragraph, related to quality of education, and weak admission and
examination systems. We are proud of our IITs and IIMs because the rigor of the
admission process ensures that only the crme de la crme enter these
institutions, thereby rendering the education process itself almost irrelevant.
And then, we expect our training companies to dominate the world without having
the necessary investment support to have the best systems and processes, and
attract the right talent. As my good friend Professor Jay Mitra, director of the
School of Entrepreneurship at the University of Essex says, "Large scale
with indifferent quality or small scale with high quality seem to be the only
options. When will we see a player who can provide consistent quality on a
global scale"?
This is certainly not intended as a criticism of solid companies
like Aptech and NIIT. On the contrary, the opportunity to put India on the world
map of high quality education probably is most readily available to them. The
problem goes back to the early nineties when fledgling computer training
institutes in India were just beginning to take off, and the market had to move
from short appreciation courses in IT to career courses of 18 months duration
and more. So, the unprecedented demand for computer education resulted in
mushrooming of training institutes sans quality of education. It was inevitable
that weak institutes without quality would collapse at the sign of new slimmer
and trimmer companies. These new companies are now capable of meeting the
industry needs as well as the challenges of quality.
| At least
one Indian player will forge innovative collaborations in key resource
centers and succeed in building a billion dollar business in global
education |
Having been in this industry for over a dozen years gives me the
confidence that good sense will prevail. We will see at least one Indian player
forging innovative collaborations and joint ventures in key resource centers and
succeed in building a billion dollar business in global education. Let us change
tracks a little and see what is needed for our software and business process
industry.
The most urgent and dominant imperative continues to be the
availability of industry-ready youngsters. There are a number of small
initiatives that are beginning to see the light of daythe finishing schools
for engineers coming up in some of the National Institutes of Technology; the
quality initiatives being talked about in some of the IITs; and, of course, the
individual partnerships that many of us are forging with key colleges and
universities to participate in curriculum development, final year teaching and
pre-placement to align student capabilities with real job needs.
What is needed is a partnership between industry, academia, and
the powers that be in the AICTE, state regulatory agencies and world-class
institutions from India and abroad that are willing to invest in the future of
the country, the industry, and the youth. Resources of the future will come from
different disciplines, but the core capabilities and skills need to be defined
and taught with uniform quality to make the industrys aspirations come true.
The author is deputy chairman & MD of Zensar Technologies
and the vice chairman of Nasscom.
He can be reached at ganesh@cybermedia.co.in Page(s) 1
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