My young friend, Appu (name changed) is a brilliant student. I once asked him why the sky is blue. He snapped back asking, “Uncle, will the question come in the exam?”I said, “Perhaps not!” Appu then justified his ignorance. “Anyway, it is not in the syllabus,” he murmured.
Appu’s answer raises a serious question. Will our youth forever remain in an island of ignorance amidst a flood of knowledge? Unfortunately the answer is yes, as long as our education system remains exam-centric and glued to outmoded, limited syllabus, which rewards rote learning. Science education in India suffers from several other shortcomings. The syllabus is generally rigid and outdated, out of sync with the trends in modern research and industry. The curricula are static. No wonder, the graduates coming out of such a system are not easily absorbed.
A chemical engineer, for instance,pines for a slot in....
