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According to a recent study, only 2.5% of engineers of India possess any AI skills, with only 5.5% qualified with basic programming knowledge. Though Indian IT companies are looking to change that as they actively upskill their employees, this report did not resonate well with the Indian engineers.
In a recent Reddit discussion, a significant number of Indian engineers expressed concerns over the programming skills of college professors, with many claiming that most professors in Indian colleges lack the necessary expertise to teach programming effectively.
“Most people learn what college teaches them and nothing more. Most college professors themselves don’t know programming,” said a user in the discussion, which was highly resonated amongst college students.
This discussion highlighted a growing discontent among students and professionals who feel that the quality of education in computer science and related fields is being compromised due to the inadequacies of teaching staff.
One of the key points raised in the discussion was the tendency of professors to rely heavily on external resources like YouTube channels and online courses rather than teaching from their own knowledge and experience. “My college professors used to watch GateSmashers videos for teaching Computer Networks to us. They even wrote the same examples from the video, and when asked questions, they told us to watch the videos.”
The situation is particularly dire in Tier-3 colleges, where the quality of teaching is perceived to be the lowest. A user said that their professor even copy-pasted the same screenshots from the video in his PowerPoint presentation. “I am not sure for what reason professors take salaries if they can’t even make their own original PPTs,” he added.
Who to Blame?
Earlier, AIM wrote that there is a dire need for Indian researchers and professors to move beyond PhDs as most of them keep publishing papers. “Though Indian universities produce some very good engineers, they are very successful in the West,” Amit Sheth, the chair and founding director of the AIISC, told AIM earlier.
Similarly, Adarsh Shirawalmath, the founder of Tensoic, told AIM that though his college has been helpful, it is still years behind. “We are lagging a bit in terms of where the SOTA is and what we are doing because some of the professors still might be researching on CNN whereas the SOTA is really ahead,” he said.
The issue is critical. These days, colleges make it mandatory for students to complete online courses on subjects already included in the syllabus. “What’s the point of paying the teachers then?” asked a user, which aptly explains the core issue of it all.
The root of the problem seems to be the significant gap between the salaries offered to college professors and what they could potentially earn in the private sector. “Let’s talk about 95% of teachers working in the rest of the colleges in India. Why would someone work as a teacher getting paid at most 10 to 12 LPA if they were any good?”. This is the valid question that engineers should be asking.
“The market will pay 30 LPA to anyone decent.” This discrepancy in pay makes it difficult for colleges to attract and retain talented professionals, leading to a situation where those who do become professors are often not the best in the field.
This sentiment was echoed by others, who argued that the incentive structure is fundamentally flawed. Nobody half good wants to be a computer science teacher when they can get paid at least double that much in an equivalent experience IT job.
Still Hope
This is a critical issue, as it suggests that the teaching profession in India is not seen as a viable career option for skilled professionals, which in turn affects the quality of education that students receive. On the other hand, becoming a university professor at IITs and NITs is still something engineers strive for. Which is why the faculty at these premier institutes is good enough and training world class talent.
That is also why a lot of India’s obsession with STEM degrees is creating a generation of jobless graduates, as universities apart from these premier institutes struggle to provide decent skills for the market. Moreover, not all students are capable of self-learning, which further complicates the issue.
Despite the general dissatisfaction, some users suggested potential solutions to the problem. One such suggestion was to hire more professors with industry experience. Some experienced people should take up the plan to teach in college after retiring from the corporate sector. “We need more professors with industry experience. I would readily learn from some professor with good industry experience of 5 years rather than a PhD professor,” said an engineer.
The over-reliance on external resources, the disparity in pay between professors and private sector employees, and the lack of practical industry experience among teaching staff are all contributing factors to this issue.
The ideal way forward is to increase the barrier of entry for becoming a professor for computer science, which would end up making the professors upskill themselves. At the same time, the compensation offered to these professors needs to be substantially increased as well, to match with high paying jobs of the market.
