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backASIAtalk May, 2012

Asian education systems lacking “practice orientation”

Chief executives in globally competitive Indian companies are saying graduates lack the skills required to “operate in the real world”.

In the words of Tharman Shanmugaratnam, deputy prime minister, these companies have to "put in an intensive structured training programme to help them adapt” as a result, TODAY reported.

Speaking at the inaugural Asia Pacific Pan Indian Institute of Technology dialogue on Friday, where he shared his experiences during a recent visit to India where he spent time at globally competitive Indian organisations, Shanmugaratnam identified the lack of "practice orientation" as a gap in the Asian education system in general. "This is true both for institutions at the pinnacle, like the IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology), as well as for institutions that should be providing high quality technical education for the needs of industrialising economies as well as the needs of the modern economy."

IITs are a group of elite technology and engineering-oriented institutes of higher learning in India, represented by more than 200,000 alumni globally under the umbrella Pan IIT organisation. Currently, there are about one thousand IITs in Singapore.

While the local education system's "technical orientation" started in the 1970s, Shanmugaratnam noted about 65% of each school-leaving cohort now progress through the technical route either via the Institutes of Technical Education or the polytechnics.

"It doesn't matter what they do later in life, but starting off with the applied orientation allows them to maximise the talent and skills they have because most people in any population, their minds work very well when they are working on something practical," he said.

Shanmugaratnam also touched on the need for greater intellectual and cultural linkages between Singapore and India, noting that the connection presents great opportunities for development. Singapore could help India with urban solutions, like clean water and the environment, he added.

"The challenge in India, in this regard, is to develop urban solutions that provide a standard of living that is acceptable to a broad mass of people and can spur economic growth both in manufacturing and services," he said.

Calling on Singapore IIT Alumni association to create networks between India and East Asia "with Singapore being a gateway of sorts", Shanmugaratnam suggested allowing IIT students to visit Singapore universities through deeper collaborations than what is currently available, while providing opportunities for Singapore students to go to India.

Source: Human Resources online - GAI

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