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Despite regional differences and identity quests, the strength of Indian nationhood persists, supported by a dedication to constitutional values and productive conversations

There is much talk about the nature of change in all aspects of Indian life, as is natural in changes envisaged at such a large scale. There are bound to be differences of opinion, multiple articulations, and an attempt to project one’s point of view. This is how it should be. This is amplified by the Sanskrit dictum “Vade Vade Jayat Tatva Bodhah” (through discussion one arrives at the truth). However, discussion must follow a protocol. This protocol is often unwritten and is a bedrock of any civil society. It has some enduring principles. The first and foremost of which would be that it cannot be and must not be abusive. 

The right to civil disagreement in a civil manner is the foundation of a civil society. Thus, it is that mutual respect and agreeing to disagree are required as essential to civil discourse. 

One can add to it, for good measure, certain other attributes and certain attributes of the mind. These attributes recognise the need to not only listen but honestly weigh the merits of another person’s point of view […]

India’s education system faces critical challenges, particularly in postgraduate education, and raises questions about policies’ coherence

Education in India is passing through, once again, a seminal phase in its growth. Since 1947, it has passed through several phases of change and each phase has had its own tale to tell.

Generally, education is seen in three phases: school education, college education and postgraduate education. School education is broadly divided into three areas, classes 1 to 5, generally known as primary school; classes 5-10 middle school, and classes 10-12, secondary school. These are not rigid levels but are loosely used for classification and easy communication.

The college-level education is from 1st year to 3rd year, which leads to a bachelor’s degree and 4th year and 5th year, which leads to a postgraduate degree. The doctoral education could thereafter follow. Institutions are known to specialise amongst these various segments and acquire a brand for that. In school education, some do offer class 1 to class 12 education, and there are others who also offer pre-class 1 education which can be termed as a nursery stage.

Postgraduate education, especially after a master’s degree has been normally followed by at least 1 year pre-Ph.Dwork and at least 2 […]

The interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary character is the crux of management education. Different tools are needed in different use cases

The issues in the growth of management educational institutions are many. To begin with, it is on account of varying understanding about the nature of ‘management’, as a discipline. The subject area is itself relatively recent and it found a place in educational institutions between the two world wars. The research traditions are, also, relatively young and area-wise variations in the methods of research are many. Many who have a management degree were at the best taught to be managers and those skills are not always the same as what may be needed for teaching management.

There are also variations on account of the nature of the management of educational institutions. Management has been attempted to be taught in general education institutions, agricultural sciences institutions, medical institutions, single discipline institutions and other types of institutions. The antiquity of such institutions, their administrative structure, their market-relatedness, their brand pulls and more are of varying nature.

It is generally believed that management education, in its original incarnation, began as ‘labor studies’. ‘Leadership’ was then not a fashionable area of research or teaching. As it so happens […]

Left unattended and not embedded in the inevitable ‘human’ context, Artificial Intelligence can be dangerous and misleading, to say the least

Artificial Intelligence’ is the flavour of the season. There is a competitive pitch in making a bid for it, claiming expertise and establishing one’s felicity in this area. Everyone feels the need to establish a claim to the slice of the pie. It is understandable because that is how fashions go.

It is difficult to fight fashions because it establishes primacy, gains resources and tends to set the norm. ‘Artificial Intelligence’ somehow has come to denote a higher and upgraded level of existence, cognition and expertise. The point that needs to be paid attention is that artificial intelligence is not ‘auto-generative’. At best, it is based on certain felicity to combine and recombine elements and building blocks like codes. It cannot ‘think’, in a manner of speaking, in an ‘original manner’. Combining or recombining constituents depends upon the strength and potential of the algorithm on which it works or is constructed.

This makes it look ‘original’ when in reality, as noted above, it is only the outcome of various permutations and more essential building blocks. This by itself is an achievement. It […]