Aman Singh, co-founder of GradRight Inc. shares his views on opportunities and challenges of the Indian education system with FE Education Online.
What is the best thing about today’s education system?
There is no singular education system that can be commented upon in a way that will be valid. There are several fragmented systems catering to students from different socio-economic and academic backgrounds and one needs to see them separately.
Government school systems offer unmatched access and affordability to majority students, irrespective of their financial, social and regional constraints. Some of our public higher education institutions like IITs & IIMs are the best in the world and have produced top class executives, engineers and leaders.
Private schools are offering the most personalised and world-class learning experience for children for those who can afford it, while some of the private colleges like Ashoka and Krea have changed the standards to higher education in India. The system is entering a phase of transformation on the back of policies like NEP and the increased participation from financing Institutions and Fintechs to enable access to education.
What is the one thing you would like to change in the system?
I would like to make the higher education system more transparent and financially more accountable. I think institutions should make their detailed data on programme outcomes, placements and long-term career outcomes of their alumni public. This will enable a clearer differentiation in the quality of institutions so that students and parents can understand the true impact and merit of the institution. This will also help banks price their loans better for students, thereby driving capital to those deserving institutions that are creating more value for students.
Institutions should rationalise their fees based on programme level outcomes and costs involved in delivering the programme e.g. Art History degree should cost a lot less than an Engineering degree in the same college. This will not only encourage students to pursue what they love but also optimise the debt burden for studying programmes that may be financially rewarding.
What is the role digital has played in the evolution of the education system?
It has ushered in a new era and world of possibilities in how, when and where learning can happen. It has democratised the access to quality content, teachers and to that extent, education itself. Technologies like AR, VR have opened new doors to making learning immersive and experiential and created a level-playing field for students who may be differently abled in their learning styles. Gamification has ushered in the fun in learning and helped overcome the discomfort students may have of certain subjects.
Digital is also powering collaboration between faculty and students in institutions across countries. Universities are able to create hybrid courses for professionals to pursue their dreams of higher education while balancing their work responsibilities, in a cost-optimised way. ERP solutions are making administrative processes of institutions efficient and digitisation of examination and analysis offers the scope to provide a more customised and personalised learning support for students.
What has been the disadvantage of digital in education?
The rise of Generative AI has sparked concerns within the realm of graduate education with questions about assessments, research work, etc. One disadvantage which I see that can potentially have permanent psychological effects on students could be “cognitive offloading.” It refers to the process of reducing cognitive effort by using external aids, such as writing lists or utilising AI technologies.
While there are clear productivity benefits of using AI, there are also many potential risks. Students who utilise AI and cognitive offloading will experience a greater success rate in completing tasks with fewer errors. However, this can come at the cost of a decline in memory retention, resulting in a dangerous overdependence on such tools. In Australia, educational institutions grapple with the task of regulating AI’s presence in classrooms. In response to concerns about cheating and plagiarism, at least five Australian states have taken measures to prohibit the use of Large Language Model tools at the school level itself. This dilemma underscores the need for a balanced and equitable approach to integrating AI in education.
What career advice would you like to give students?
We need to start with the first principles. Students and Parents are consumers and Universities are service providers. As consumers, students should look beyond the ‘100% placements’ tag of Universities and look at the 3-5-10 year of economic outcomes achieved by graduates of programs that they are interested in.
They should focus on the real long term Return on Education. An economically sound choice from students will help them make their financing choices in a more efficient manner, thereby optimising their loans. As a ripple effect, banks will also be pushed to finance repayable loans, preventing a debt crisis that ultimately wrenches students mercilessly and leaves them more financially burdened than they were earlier.