Every year, over a million students appear for JEE, but less than 1% of them are able to make it to the topmost institutes in the country (read: IITs). But what concerns me the most is the fact that those students which are not able to get in any college, appear lost regarding what they need to do in their life. To make things even worse, most of the times it is not even that fault that they ended up being in that position in the first place. Several students among these are not even engineering aspirants at all but instead, are forced to choose this field due to various reasons.

The most important reasons due to which students are forced to choose engineering in my opinion are –

• Peer pressure – This is by far the most important reason why students choose engineering because everyone around them is doing the same thing. Due to this, they are forced to choose to become an engineer. Everyone around you might be telling you ‘Beta, engineering kar lo, bohot scope hai.’ But my friend, you don’t need to listen. Do whatever your heart tells you.
• Money – A lot of people think that engineers earn a lot of money. But this is only partly true. Yes, an engineering degree might land you a good job, but it is your performance at work which will earn you the money. And it isn’t even necessary that you get a good job after engineering. There are a lot of other courses which offer a much higher salary.
• Lack of awareness – People are not aware. Everyone thinks that there are only a few courses which provide good returns. Nowadays there are a lot of options to choose from, and you’ll definitely find one course that suits your interests. All you need to do is have proper counselling from experts.

Aforementioned are only the reasons why students choose this field. These are not the only problems related. Some things are wrong with our education system too. The selection procedure, the course structure, lack of competent faculty, all play a very important role in determining how good an education system is, but let’s not talk about that.

You can find a lot of articles on the Internet about where the problem lies. But the number of those offering solutions is very less, so let me offer some.

1. Change in the admission procedure – The admission procedure for engineering in our country is flawed. Currently, the system favours more to colleges instead of students, which needs to change. Candidates should be offered branches according to their choices, not their scores. I know it would make the whole process very cumbersome and time-consuming, but this is an issue which needs to change. There are very few students who get a branch of their choice, and others are left with options that do not interest them. Eventually, students lose interest in their course and it becomes nothing more than a liability.
2. Awareness towards branches apart from CSE – It has become a common conception that a degree in Computer Science will get a huge salary. Although this is true, other branches of engineering are still not dead. If pursued and studied properly, they can provide with the same amount of salary as well, if not higher. All that needs to be done is to inform people that other fields of engineering are still as good a Computer Science.
3. Huge competition – This may be the greatest unaddressed issue. The admission procedure, selection criteria, everything is formulated keeping a specific number of students in minds. But when the estimated and actual numbers differ vastly, it creates a lot of problems. Had there been a fraction of engineering aspirants that are today, it would have been a lot easier. Students could get branches of their choices, which in turn would mean greater productivity from their part. Also, it would be easier to implement a one on one based selection criteria which would benefit students hugely. Competition can be decreased by
4. Increasing awareness among students – Not every engineering aspirant wants to study engineering. The reasons why they have to join the field may be any one of the above. However, they do need to get proper counselling regarding what they want to pursue as a career. Taking an informed decision will help them in choosing what they want to do in their life, and as a result, it would help in decreasing the competition for engineering, a win-win situation.
5. Creative rather than bookish approach – Books are published in order to help students in studying, but teachers usually force students to study sticking to the content of the books. As a result, the creativity of the student gets lost and all that remains is the ability to mug up content and how well someone can reproduce them in the exam.

These were some of the ways in which the flawed education system can be corrected, and I seriously hope, that concerned authorities get aware of these as well. Otherwise the quality of education in India will degrade day by day. There is no lack of talent in India, there is a lack of agencies which can help in nurturing it.

For further queries and related information, you can approach the Professional Experts at CareerGuide. Hope this will help you!