What will I study in UK, if given a chance NOW!!
First of all, I would like to make it very clear that me and (formal) education are poles apart. Ever since I passed out of Engineering (yes I passed) more than 10 years ago, if there was one word I hated – it was ‘Education’.
There is a good reason for my anguish, and its source is internal, not external. When I finished my 12th Standard, I wanted to do Engineering because –
- That’s the course everyone else in my school were opting for.
- I would (most probably) get a placement & consequently, good salary.
NEVER EVER base your higher education decisions on the above two criterion. However, you can choose a course if you are excited about it/genuinely interested to know a lot about that stream, and you are willing to stick to it over the long-term. I learned it the hard way, and one day, so will you. Like me, you may also start hating the very essence of what enables us to aspire for better things in life – Education.
Today, I do believe in education, but I want to learn from everything and anything. I am not in a position to invest in a formal higher education program because I don’t have the money, and more importantly, I don’t have the time.
Let us look at a hypothetical case – If I had that money and time in abundance, what course would I prefer to study?
M.Sc – Sustainable Development in Practice from University of the West of England, Bristol, UK.
Why this course? Sustainable Development is the only ideal that seems to be worthy of struggling towards, at this point of my life.
Why this University and why Britain? This University, because it is located in the European Green Capital, Bristol, which has developed an excellent sustainability culture & ecosystem. Britain, because this post has been written for a contest organized by British Council 🙂 But beware: If Germany or US offers me full scholarship alongwith free accommodation and travel, I might be tempted 😀
Three years back, I am not sure if I would have opted for this course. Three years from now, I am not sure if I will still opt for this course. I can only take a decision based on what I know and want, today. Such is the dilemma of life!
Sustainable living is a concept that has grown in favor within me, over the last two years or so. It’s not that I believe 100% in it and I think it will make our lives much better – let’s just say, sustainable living is an aspiration that is much better than whatever else is out there in this world.
Formal education, according to me, does have its limitations but it also has its advantages. While I would prefer to learn everything the hard way, people who have done the same thing that I want to do and know more than what I know, have collected their knowledge, opinion and experience as a formal study module. It also opens up new job/work and cultural experiences. So, let’s give the credit where it deserves.
But on the other hand, formal education may also end up spoon-feeding and take away the enterprise to innovate. The best way of doing things may not always be the right way of doing things. What is applicable at one place, may not be applicable to another. As you can see, I love generalizations 😛
Even though I have written this post for a contest, I have written what I actually think on this topic. Not what (I think) will fetch me a prize. You should at least credit me for that 🙂
Destination Infinity
The entries for this contest organized by IndiBlogger need to have a link to British Council’s Knowledge is Great portal that gives information about higher education in UK.
Well written from your point of view! Yes, basic education is must and it is the platform to build further.
Basic education should be appropriate and relate directly to what one wants to do (professionally) in life. Otherwise, it is a failure. Schools provide us with enough basics anyway. Higher education should enable us to practically specialize in the field of our choice. The emphasis being on ‘our choice’.
Destination Infinity
I learnt more in 2 years in US than in 4 years of engineering in India. The problem is with the education system in India. Education in US is mostly research oriented (atleast what I did was) so it was not like memorizing stuff from a textbook. Not sure about UK universities.
Good luck for the contest 🙂
Yes, Indian education needs a lot of reform but that will come only if students and parents want it. If people are happy with what they get because it provides them with some (unrelated) job, it will be difficult for them to accept any reforms.
Destination Infinity
interesting thoughts… given a chance i would like to study world history, library science, and a foreign language, and I’m continuing engineering….so i can be a jack of all trades…sorry, jill of all trades…haha..
World history, library science and foreign language – excellent choices 🙂
Destination Infinity
Yes, ‘formal education may also end up spoon-feeding and take away the enterprise to innovate’… and yet people opt for this format. Do you really think there is some other way that also gives you the security of a job and a life of prosperity?
Arvind Passey
http://www.passey.info
The most famous scientists, politicians and entrepreneurs are the ones who never completed their education. Or at least, did not excel in it.
I feel, the answer to your question lies in how much value we create as a professional. That way, we can keep ourselves in demand whether by being employed or employing others.
Sometimes education helps us in that quest and makes it easier, but most of the time, we end up working in a field that is totally unrelated to our chosen stream, hence nullifying the reason why we took up a particular course!
What I am trying to address is – the lack of maturity in young minds about what they want to do in life. Equipping them in their chosen field is a secondary criterion and people learn, both with the help of formal education or without it as long as their chosen field is to their wanting.
Destination Infinity