Isn't this increasingly the case in colleges and universities in India:
No more than 15% of students go through even 15% of the textbooks assigned to them thoroughly in their entire four years of undergraduate education.
What we have instead is a "spoon feeding culture"! All the students read is lecture notes (if that) and their exposure to problem solving is almost entirely limited to tutorial sessions.
I think this habit of not reading, not studying oneself, not solving problems independently, is a bigger problem than many realise. The effects of this spoon feeding culture of course show in examinations, but then "pseudo compassion" kicks in and many students who clearly deserve F grades are "squeezed through". So the problem not addressed during their B.Tech. programs, it is hardly surprising that very very few Indian students actually do anything substantially creative or innovative in their careers.
We need to break this culture. Reading assignments need to become a regular part of courses, tutorial sessions need to insist on student involvement, homework assignments need to get tougher (with strict vigilance on cheating), professors and teaching assistants need to hold office hours where students can come to clear doubts and project evaluations need to become more insistent on rigor, innovation and proper report writing.
We are underestimating the weak links in our education programs at our own peril. 76 years since independence and still third world - this is not accidental, there are clear reasons for our lack of progress that need clear addressing.
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