Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Breaking the Technology Barrier
The IIT's (Indian Institutes of Technology) have traditionally concentrated on strong engineering fundamentals in their curriculum. As a result, most degree programs are heavily overloaded with technical classes. The Social Sciences or the Liberal Arts make only a rare and rather watered-down experience in an IITians education. This of course has prompted many students, alumni, politicians, industrialists etc to complain about the narrow focus of education that is being given to the 'cream of the crop' in India. However, there are signs that things could be changing.
In an article today, the Times of India says:
Go the MIT way, the HRD ministry has told the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). They have been asked to expand base, without restricting themselves to just engineering courses any longer.
This would mean introduction of courses in economics and business administration, in addition to strengthening and diversifying existing programmes in linguistics and pure sciences.
Of course, this is not the first time that such a voice has been raised, but the article seems to indicate that the government is actually quite serious about developing new programs that are not centered purely around technical disciplines and have substantial involvement from the Social Sciences. I'll leave you to judge this, but in my opinion, the sooner this happens, the better!
In an article today, the Times of India says:
Go the MIT way, the HRD ministry has told the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). They have been asked to expand base, without restricting themselves to just engineering courses any longer.
This would mean introduction of courses in economics and business administration, in addition to strengthening and diversifying existing programmes in linguistics and pure sciences.
Of course, this is not the first time that such a voice has been raised, but the article seems to indicate that the government is actually quite serious about developing new programs that are not centered purely around technical disciplines and have substantial involvement from the Social Sciences. I'll leave you to judge this, but in my opinion, the sooner this happens, the better!
