Engineer and Doctors: The Only Choices of Professional Education in India

Aah, these days if you ask a student that what he/she is going to pursue for undertaking graduation, then the most common answers that one says is ‘Engineer or Doctor’. That’s it and nothing else. People think that there is no other choice left except engineer or doctor. Nowadays, everyone is rushing to become an engineer or a doctor. It is practically possible that one is left with these two choices only? Is there anything else beyond these two? Certainly and possibly ‘No’. Then, why this statement has become the reality of every students life that why everyone is rushing towards becoming engineer or doctor? There is a very common joke for fathers in India. A father says to his son, ‘You can choose to study any field you want, as long as it’s engineering or medical’. It has become a part of national wisdom that these two degrees guarantees a stable and well-paying job or rather a higher paying job. People have developed a mind-set that a student cannot expect a future they are studying liberal arts, psychology etc. It never about the want of knowledge that motivates them rather, it is the standard of living that matters for the families.

When asked from most of the students, what they’ll be doing after class 10th or class 12th, the most common answer that we get is that, ‘planning to leave home after 10th or 12th grade and go to Kota which is very famous in India for cram school which prepare students for different types of entrance exams especially engineering and medical’. In Kota, students spends hours in cram classes learning how to beat the entrance exams. In case of education also, people have become so orthodox because of which every student is trying to go to engineering or medical college. In case of IIT exams, there are about 1000 seats and half a million students appear for the exam, which means for every 1 seat there are 50 applicants. As compared to Harvard University, were for every 1 seat, there are 17 students. From this comparison it is very clear that, in India everyone just wants to label the titles of engineer or doctors in front of their names. Today, if we count the number of engineers and doctors in India, then we’ll probably need a supercomputer to complete the process as the number go on forever. The obsession with engineering and medical has another unintended effect. The country has become shortage of lawyers, artists, architects, etc. When a student passes 10th grade then he/she is forced to take science stream by the parents when they enter 11th grade. It does not matter for few parents what their children like and if they had been from science background but the child has to opt for science stream whether or not interested. Those who don’t want to opt for science are those children whose parents are either understanding or the child simply refuses to take science. After passing 12th grade, they are forced to take either engineering or medical. Some parents force to take medical and some to take engineering and some force to take either of them, wherever they get seat. The lack of professional diversity in some of the parents results in deeper problem, one that could easily terrorize India’s future competitive edge.

In India, currently engineering and medical are the most important and demand field among every other field, without which the country’s progress might be at stake and one day would be stopped. The latest technological revolution has been made possible only because of the exponential growth in the field of engineering and all the diagnosis coupled with the respective treatments of the previously and current untreated and deadly diseases has also been made possible only due to the same exponential growth in the field of medical sciences. But the main problem does not lie in these two fields. The main problem lies in the fact that even if they are not much talented in the field, the majority of children go in the line of engineering or medical. Its impractical say as well as to do that everyone have a common goal in life. The main flaw lies in the common mentality of the society that by going for either of these two fields, the children will enjoy position, money and respect. It is the society who forces a child to either become an engineer or doctor. But, actually it’s not a force, it’s a regular appeal that people make. We are a risk-reluctant country but innovation requires risk takers in order to reform the higher education in our country. In today’s world, children must be encouraged to take risk, make mistakes and be innovative which will help them in future to open up their minds and make them more creative and imaginative. Every person in the world, be it minor or an adult must try and aim to create an ecosystem for innovation. To make this possible students must made open to more and more practical exposure rather than bookish knowledge that most of them have. From the beginning, children must be taken into account for career counselling to make their minds clear and get exposed to all career opportunities because their minds are impartial and open. It is very necessary to get exposed to their area of interest and learn about it from an experienced person in that particular field. 

To conclude, by this or that way most of the students go in either of the two fields. And, this is actually not the fault of students but it’s the fault of society who does not give complete freedom to their children to become whatever they want to. Our country is giving scope for each and every field and to be honest, in the present scenario no one gives interest in what one’s profession is but everyone gives interest in what the skills are and how does one play with that skill in an accurate direction. Whether one is a doctor or an engineer or an actor or a lawyer or a journalist or whatever one is, is of no interest. The interest is in what one does with all these.