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not a directly related question but still i think relevant because education. how is the current system of higher education "justified" for the "masses" of stu

not a directly related question but still i think relevant because education. how is the current system of higher education "justified" for the "masses" of students and not the cream toppers. i am specfically talking about india because that is what i can talk about. if your country is similar/dissimilar that would be great to know. in india, its generally accepted that all students study till higher seconday, ie age of 18. there are enough schools and higher secondary schools/colleges to reach there. just so you know, age 16 is "matriculation", then 11th and 12th as "higher secondary". then comes colleges and stuff. what i am interested in is the "competitive exams" that happen right after this 12th, if you want to be a doctor, you have to qualify an exam, "NEET" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Eligibility_cum_Entrance_Test_(Undergraduate) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Eligibility_cum_Entra... in 2020, 1,597,435 students registered for an exam, all india for a grand total of 66000 seats in all indian medical colleges. Now, many students do go to foreign universities for studies but thats irrelevant. my question is, if 1.5 Million "medical" students are studying for 66000 seats only, what about 1.4 million students? they wont be getting their place so they need to look elsewhere. same for engineering and other courses. yes many join regular colleges for degree courses, 3 year or 5 year or likes or many go into higher education like PHD and stuff but the core problem is every year millions are being taught medicine which is supposed to primary education for their lifelong professional career but many will simply not be able to achieve that. what about these students? edit: right after you pass your "matriculation" you are supposed to decide your subjects, "medical", "non medical", "commerce" and "arts" medical is medicine. non medical is engineering commerce is just that, arts is humanities.

HarryHirsch 6y ago
The background is that US secondary education is lousy. THere's some background in this essay from a Russian mathematician teaching at a regional institution in Texas: http://michel.delord.free.fr/toom_w.pdf http://michel.delord.free.fr/toom_w.pdf Students aren't going up to college to become physicians, they are there to learn basic literacy skills to become employable. The failure rate for nursing school aspirants in introductory chemistry at my institution in Alabama is 70 %. It is that bad.
- 2Gkashmiri 6y ago
  https://i.redd.it/djb581wsmle61.jpg https://i.redd.it/djb581wsmle61.jpg this was shared on india subreddit yesterday. i failed to mention this in the above post, right after you pass your "matriculation" you are supposed to decide your subjects, "medical", "non medical", "commerce" and "arts" medical is medicine. non medical is engineering commerce is just that, arts is humanities. just 4 groups of subjects and a students is expected to study just that "section" but a couple of years later finds out he/she was unable to get a "seat" so "college" it is. there graduating from there, just pillar to post for job or if their parents have cash, they are sent for further studies in foreign countries. >they are there to learn basic literacy skills to become employable. i employ commerce graduates in my office. the level of grasp they have on the subjects they are supposed to have studied in 3 years of their course is not enough to get them an intern level job. either the colleges are doing a crap job of teaching them or there is something wrong with what is being taught
barry-cotter 6y ago
> how is the current system of higher education "justified" for the "masses" of students and not the cream toppers. It’s a massive wasteful signaling arms race that all would be better off without. See Bryan Caplan’s The Case Against Education for much greater depth and a focus on the US but the same conclusion. On another note I suggest you add capitalization to your general writing.

HarryHirsch 6y ago

The background is that US secondary education is lousy. THere's some background in this essay from a Russian mathematician teaching at a regional institution in Texas: http://michel.delord.free.fr/toom_w.pdf http://michel.delord.free.fr/toom_w.pdf Students aren't going up to college to become physicians, they are there to learn basic literacy skills to become employable. The failure rate for nursing school aspirants in introductory chemistry at my institution in Alabama is 70 %. It is that bad.

2Gkashmiri 6y ago
https://i.redd.it/djb581wsmle61.jpg https://i.redd.it/djb581wsmle61.jpg this was shared on india subreddit yesterday. i failed to mention this in the above post, right after you pass your "matriculation" you are supposed to decide your subjects, "medical", "non medical", "commerce" and "arts" medical is medicine. non medical is engineering commerce is just that, arts is humanities. just 4 groups of subjects and a students is expected to study just that "section" but a couple of years later finds out he/she was unable to get a "seat" so "college" it is. there graduating from there, just pillar to post for job or if their parents have cash, they are sent for further studies in foreign countries. >they are there to learn basic literacy skills to become employable. i employ commerce graduates in my office. the level of grasp they have on the subjects they are supposed to have studied in 3 years of their course is not enough to get them an intern level job. either the colleges are doing a crap job of teaching them or there is something wrong with what is being taught

barry-cotter 6y ago

> how is the current system of higher education "justified" for the "masses" of students and not the cream toppers. It’s a massive wasteful signaling arms race that all would be better off without. See Bryan Caplan’s The Case Against Education for much greater depth and a focus on the US but the same conclusion. On another note I suggest you add capitalization to your general writing.