IS MONEY THE ONLY MOTIVATOR FOR EDUCATION ?

IS MONEY THE ONLY MOTIVATOR FOR EDUCATION ?

Musings

By

VIKRAM KARVE

I love to teach. 

That is why I always accepted teaching opportunities and assignments.

I have encountered two types of students:

1. Students interested in learning and acquiring genuine knowledge

2. Students obsessed with marks, grades and acquiring qualifications. 

This second category of exam-oriented ambitious students would often say that I taught beyond the syllabus and what was the use of all this knowledge from the examination point of view. 

More importantly, they were interested in knowing how would the knowledge help them in getting a “good”  job.

The “good” refers primarily to the salary package. 

Yes, nowadays, Good means Money. 

So a Good Job translates to Higher Salary

UTILITY VALUE OF EDUCATION

That is why, in today's world it is only the “utility value”  of education that is emphasized upon. 

The quality of an educational institution is determined by the pay packages its students are offered in campus placements. 

INTRINSIC VALUE OF EDUCATION

No one seems to the bothered about the “intrinsic value”  of education and knowledge.

Most students do not seem to be bothered about acquiring genuine knowledge in their core profession. 

MONEY - THE ONLY MOTIVATOR

The focus seems to be on lucrative job offers in terms of salary, perks, CTC and “pay packet” . 

Attributes of a job like challenge, interest and learning are secondary.

That is why we have so many engineers from IITs, NITs and premier engineering colleges who never pursue engineering as a career, but they switch over to lucrative white collar jobs in Finance, HR and Marketing management (the most sought after being investment banking) which have no connection with engineering. 

I know a bright young civil engineer who did not want to work as a civil engineer onsite in the “field” and quit his job in the infrastructure construction industry and joined an IT firm for a well paying comfortable 9 to 5 five-day-week job in a metro. 

Now he is “bored”  with his IT job and is thinking of quitting his IT job too and doing an MBA and wants to become an investment banker. 

Is money the only motivator for studying? 

If one is not interested in civil engineering then why waste so many years and so much effort studying civil engineering. 

And by taking a seat in the course why also deny someone else who is interested the opportunity to study the subject? 

I remember another brilliant student of mine - a very bright Electronics and Communications Engineer who possessed an natural aptitude in design and would have made an excellent researcher in Engineering and technology. 

She went to an IIM after her B. Tech. and is now an investment banker working abroad.

Even within the domain of engineering everyone seems to be migrating to high paying and comfortable IT jobs.

I have seen metallurgists, chemical, civil and mechanical engineers who don't want to pursue their core specializations and prefer a desk job in IT. 

That is why the primary emphasis is on marks, grades, succeeding in competitive exams like CAT - yes the focus is on those aspects that enable you get an attractive high-paying job and enjoy a lifelong lucrative career. 

No one seems to bothered about true learning to acquire genuine knowledge and become proficient in one's core profession for which one is studying, especially in engineering and technology.

In order to enjoy studying you must understand the true value of education and distinguish between acquiring genuine knowledge and just going through the motions to obtain degrees and qualifications.

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2013

Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. 

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Disclaimer:

All stories in this blog are a work of fiction. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

NB

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Copyright © Vikram Karve 2013. All Rights Reserved

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About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer and blogger. Educated at IIT Delhi, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and an anthology of short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional  and academic research papers in journals and edited in-house journals and magazines for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing and blogging. Vikram Karve lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

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