Directions (Q. No. 1 -11): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions. Certain words/phrases are given in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
IN a country like India, it is increasingly becoming difficult to alienate the element of altruism attached to education, from the massive profits involved in this sector. An unfortunate result of merging the two has been the higher education system of the country. It is overly regulated, and thoroughly under-monitored. Technical education, as a result, is losing its sheen due to the presence of a large number of mediocre and below-average private engineering colleges all over the country.
Technical education is regulated by several agencies. The All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has been the apex body for proper planning and coordinating the development of technical as well management education. The University Grants Commission is responsible for affiliations. The National Board of Accreditation, which was initially set up by AICTE, is now an autonomous body, with an objective of quality assurance and relevance in education. There has been a dramatic upsurge in the number of technical institutions in the country, especially in the last decade. The AICTE has been charged with mindless McDonaldisation of technical and management education all over the country. Education began as a medium of philanthropy for the rich. Today, anybody with a decent amount of start-up capital can establish an engineering college.
Most villages and small towns may not have stable power supply, but they surely boast of a technical institute – churning out students by the minute, armed with stacks of degree certificates, but sadly zilch technical knowledge. Education was clearly delineated from commerce by the Supreme Court. However, today these education institutes, which have mushroomed all over the country, have become a medium of earning quick money. Their growth strangely, has been highly skewed. Over 51.17 per cent of technical institutes are in South India, and barely 6 per cent in the Eastern part of the country. States like Mizoram, Nagaland and Daman and Diu do not have a single engineering college.
The British successfully established world-class universities like Oxford and Cambridge in England. However, India was left grappling with the after-effects of Macaulay’s minute on English education. After all, we were the hapless inheritors of their legacy. They did not emphasise upon education for the masses. The British education catered only to the schooling needs of the elite.
Although India freed herself from the shackles of the British empire nearly seven decades ago, she remains imprisoned in the mesh of affiliating bodies. These act as inspectors, reminiscent of the license-raj days. Rather than emerge as facilitators, affiliating bodies have been interfering in curricula, dictating physical layout of the institution, student intake, etc. This system of affiliating bodies remains in only four countries all over the world, namely, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India.
The IITs and IIMs, being institutions of national importance, are beyond the ambit of affiliations. However, a reputed institution like the Indian School of Business (ISB) chose to remove itself from the drudgery of affiliations. The result is, a world-class institution boasting of global faculty, robust infrastructural facilities, and well-qualified students, who can compete adeptly with their international counterparts. Unfortunately, the products of most of the private engineering colleges lack the requisite skills, and hence are deemed unemployable. A recent NASSCOM report has suggested that only 25 per cent of IT graduates are employable.
In the next three years, India will be the youngest nation, with 64 per cent of its population belonging to the working age group. Still, it is indeed shameful, that India being a young nation, with the largest pool of technical and scientific workers, is unable to fulfill the current industry needs. Ours is a nation of the largest number of English language speakers. Knowledge has been instrumental in catapulting our economy onto the global platform. We have been the largest beneficiaries of outsourcing. However, times are changing rapidly. The same services will soon be provided by other nations at cheaper costs. The Chinese are looking to make a transition from a manufacturing to a knowledge economy. They are slowly, but surely switching from Mandarin to the English language, and hence connecting with the world. With skills on their side, language will not remain a barrier for too long.
It has become imperative that India gathers its act together, and begins to resurrect its technical education. The magic word for times to come would be “innovation”. A nation which can innovate will emerge as the next superpower. Innovation comes from deep-rooted technical skills, and superior managerial knowledge. The need of the hour is to break free from the fetters of affiliations, and allow the institutions to function in an autonomous manner. In this way education can aid future technical force to generate wealth rather than the other way round.
Q.1. Which of the following can be inferred from passage?
1. People of India have been not so enthusiastic about technical knowledge during recent past.
2. Education in India is provided with a spirit of selfless service to the students.
3. Education imparting in India is not so lucrative and thus lacks enthusiasm.
4. Technical education in India has produced the largest number of skilled workers in the world.
5. None of the given options can be inferred from the passage.
Q.2. Why, according to the author, in recent past there is an unusual increase in technical education institutions in India ?
1. To fulfill the increased demand of the potential students.
2. Philanthropists run these institutions.
3. Education in India is rewarding and profitable.
Q.3. Which of the following is true according to the paragraph?
1. Technical Education in India is controlled by bodies having political affiliations.
2. A body comprising of philanthropists govern the technical education system in India.
3. Education institutions in India are controlled by more than one sovereign bodies.
1. Only a
2. Only c
3. a,b,c
4. a and
c 5. b and c
Q.4. Which of the following is the main function of the University Grants commission of India?
1. It regulates the functioning of technical education institutions of India.
2. It monitors the teaching pattern and fee structure of technical education institutions of India
3. It grants affiliations to technical education institutions in India.
4. It ensures to implement policy matters in technical education institutions of India
5. None of those given as options.
Q.5. What does the clause ” to make transition” mean as used in the passage?
1. To have a positive effect on something.
2. To extend help to someone.
3. To pass from one state to another.
4. To cross all limits.
Q.6. According to the passage, Supreme court of India has taken measures for technical institutions that
1. Uniform fee pattern is implemented in these institutions throughout the country
2. these institutions impart good education rather than acting as money spinning machines.
3. Quality education is imparted to students of all the parts of the country even in far rural areas.
Q.7. Which of the following has the meaning opposite to ‘Delineated’?
1. Recognised
2. unpopular
3. ambiguous
4. distinct
5. Proscribed
Q.8. According to the author, features of British education system was
1. to impart education to all the able and intelligent people of the country.
2. to educate the most deserving and desiring people of the country.
3. to impart education to selected strata of people of the choice.
Q.9. Which of the following statement is incorrect.
1. More than half of the population of India will be working class in recent future.
2. The main reason of lack of interest in technical knowledge is not up to the mark quality of private engineering colleges.
3. The technical institutions have grown unevenly in different states of the country.
4. The Indian education system has been inherited from the British.
5. English language is instrumental in taking our economy to global level.
6.None of the above.
Q.10. Which of the following has the same meaning as ‘Drudgery’?
1. Grouse
2. Problems
3. Dilemma
4. Travails
5. coercion.
Q.11. Which of the following is the central idea of the passage?
1. Functioning of Technical education in India
2. Maladies of Technical and Management Education in India
3. Prospective Technical and Management Education in India
4. Need of Independent working of Technical education institutions in India
Q.12.What do the words ‘Education began as a medium of philanthropy for the rich’ mean ?
1. Education is amalgamation of wealth and benevolence.
2. The rich started education as an act of humanity.
3. Education is a source of wealth and charity.
4. Source of education is ‘riches and compassion’.
Q.13.What changes are required for education to help the technical force of tomorrow to be capable to earn income?
1. There is a need to update technical education.
2. To get rid of restrictions and allow institutions function independently.
3. To make innovative changes in technical and managerial education.
4. All a to c above.
5. Only a and b above.
Answers
1. (1)
2. (3)
3. (3)
4. (3)
5. (3)
6. (2)
7. (c)
8. (3)
9. (6)
10. (d)
11. (3)
12. (2)
13. (4)
