CHENNAI: The Indian education system is tuned to create employees, not entrepreneurs, said political commentator and economist, S Gurumurthy while delivering the KIT Thomas Memorial Lecture at Sishya School on Thursday.
In the lecture titled “Economic Model Suited to India,” Gurumurthy emphasised the need for a serious relook at what is taught to children.
“Education and enterprise are two different things,” said Gurumurthy. “You don’t need the former to be an entrepreneur. Our country is full of entrepreneurs and this entrepreneurial adventurism is what is required. Without it, there can be no development.”
He said this spark of entrepreneurship can be ignited by introducing competition within an identity group. Gurumoorthy went on to illustrate this point by talking of different communities in the country that may not have high educational qualifications but have created an environment for their communities to prosper.
Gurumurthy also elaborated on why Western theories of economy and society do not hold good in the Indian context.
“There is an absence of India in Indian discourse,” said Gurumurthy. “In no economic textbook will you find the word, ‘family’ which is so central to Indian society. Ours is not a contract-based society. It is a relationship-based society where concepts like ‘individualism,’ which are fundamental to economic theory, are missing. So it cannot be applied here.”
The speaker spoke of the need for people to realise that education should not be reduced to schooling. And that learning must not stop with exams and studying from textbooks.
"Our education system is so poor in making you understand what India is,” he said. “It has kept India away from Indians. The problem today is that we have people who have very little knowledge of India in positions of power. Unless you travel and familiarise yourself with the people of this country, you will not know what India is,” he added