"Average placement salary": Education cannot change, until the metrics do

Every year top B-schools and other professional colleges have press releases with headlines like..

Record salary offer on campus this year…

Average salary hits an all-time high of….

Highest salary offer of…

Highest internship stipend offer of…

And isn’t that what every aspirant has, as the top criterion, for selection of a college?

But there is a problem. And one that we cannot ignore.

How “rotten” the education system is, both K12 and Higher Ed, is now a favourite coffee table discussion for everyone.

Education-bashing is the new past time.

What nobody seems to be questioning is the measurement we use to decide the success of an educational institute. And the Rabbit hole runs deep.

While Higher Ed institutions survive on placement numbers, one might expect K12, i.e. schools to atleast have a different agenda.

But do they?

If you have worked in the education sector, you will hear all the behind-the-scene stories.

I remember this one school in North India I heard stories about. Apparently, it is one of those schools which has queues of parents lining up at its gates to get their children admitted.

“So, what is so great about this school?” I asked someone.

“Nothing much, except that ONE of their students happened to top IIT entrance exams in some academic year; and the school’s TRP sky-rocketed since.” I was told.

(IITs are the best colleges for engineering education in India)

What do schools advertise and parents evaluate about a school they select?

1.     Infrastructure: Swimming pool, AC classroom, sports facility

2.     Frills: Pony-riding, foreign trips, celebrity visits

4.     Pseudo Academics: Fancy curriculum and smart boards

5.     Brand name: Corporate-style chain school franchisees

3.     Toppers: 3-5% of the total students who secured the best marks and admissions

The toppers, schools take the credit for, would most likely have done well in any school.

A school’s success today is decided

 by the performance of

3-5% of learners

 who would have done well anyway.

These are the metrics we have agreed to sign up for. But that metric does not make any real difference to the education of the remaining 70-80% of the learners.

How about parents (the customer to schools) start asking the following:

1.     Profile of teachers: Here we should be cautious of ‘degree’ and ‘pedigree’ of teachers, or if the teacher is an ‘expat’. I would be more interested in knowing what the teacher can do inside the classroom – style of teaching, how do they demonstrate commitment, etc

2.     Salary of teachers: How much a school pays its teachers is a very good indicator of the school’s real attitude towards education. If the school management really cares for education it will pay its teachers well. It they are cutting corners there – it is a sure indicator that the school is just a profit-making engine

3.     Professional development of teacher: This is a sure indication that the school cares less for the education and more for profits. Many schools make do with low quality, free workshops to suffice for professional development of teachers

4.     Teacher-student ratio: How can there be any meaningful connect between a teacher and the learners when a teacher is taking a 40-minute class for 40 learners or more?

5.     Preparation time: We keep quoting the Finnish education system, without the willingness to do what they do right. Schools run teacher timetables for efficiency – filling it up with maximum classes possible. But teaching requires preparation time. The amount of preparation time allowed to teachers has a direct bearing on the quality of class

6.     Teacher evaluation: Evaluating teachers is as important as developing them. I would like to know a school’s evaluation methods to ensure that there is accountability

7.     Research and innovation investment: These could be as simple as doing industry round tables to see what skills are essential, to doing some study on their own learners – or a collaborative effort among teachers. It need not be big-budget but meaningful.

It is apparent that most of the alternative metrics I have suggested pertains to teachers. Any parent of a school-going child knows how important a teacher is despite the fancy curriculum they pay a hefty fee for. It doesn’t matter if the child is studying IB or ICSE. It is the teacher that still makes all the difference.

Between a

Smart Board and Dumb Teacher

and

Smart Teacher and Dumb Board

I will choose the latter

And the success metrics of a school should reflect the aspects that make a real difference to the majority of learners.

Similarly, in Higher Ed.

Success of a Higher Ed institution

seems to be based on the

10 % who did well for themselves

The colleges talk only about alumni who got appointed to high offices, earned great personal wealth.

We talk of the value of trying and failing and trying again. But I have never seen any college ever talking about any of those alumni who tried.

Skill gap and employable skills are plaques of a problem.

Yet the metrics don’t hold a college accountable for skill building.

For a Higher Ed institution it will help to see:

1.     Case studies on industry and societal problems the alumni have solved

2.     Teaching Pedagogy

3.     How often the curriculum is revised, and on what basis

4.     Hard and soft skills the graduates are assured to have

5.     Ratio of theory to practical

6.     Faculty (same as teachers – how they teach, more than their pedigree)

We all have acquired mastery in criticizing the education system.

But we are failing to do

the ONE thing

that can bring about the change

And that is something we can do as individuals – as parents, students, recruiters, media.

Demand to see the right metrics.

Many have said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it”.

So, numbers do matter.

The question is which ones.

And it is time we start asking.

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(Disclaimer: No part of this blog maybe copied or reproduced or reused or republished in any way, except using the share feature of LinkedIn. Any other form of reuse, must be only after explicit written consent of the author.)

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Swati is a writer and entrepreneur. She has been listed on the LinkedIn Top Voices 2017.

While she writes on a wide variety of subjects, her favorite topics are leadership, life & purpose, artificial intelligence and education.

Swati is the author of a unique book on entrepreneurship, called:

The Entrepreneur’s Soulbook — Is it your cup of tea? Link to the book

She runs her own venture, the GhostWritersWorld (LinkedIn Page)/(website)

Connect with her on Twitter @swatcat_sj

Her other LinkedIn articles are here.

Some of her favorite ones are..

Technology & product

• “If Robots will do everything, what will humans do”: Why AI Rhetoric deeply worries me
• “Justice delayed is justice denied”: Could AI and Data Science be the answer to India’s judicial backlog?
• Flirt with your product ideas, don’t fall in love
• LOL … driverless cars for India??: When AI meets Cows, Rajinikanth and Ganpati
• Love in the time of Artificial Intelligence: Valentine’s Day 2030
• “Who pays the price?”: Why PRODUCT INNOVATION without SERVICE EXCELLENCE hurts customers — the ETHICS of product innovation

Leadership and Organization

• “If you are nothing without the suit, you shouldn't have it”: 3 cardinal tests for anyone who calls himself leader
• 3 unforgettable lessons I learnt from an Indian Ed Tech Leader
• “Oh! You are sensitive”: Why sensitive is a TABOO word — and LEADERS should consciously HIRE such people in teams
• “I love solving problems”: The BIG problem with problem solving
• “So why are you leaving?”: Don’t treat retention discussions like a ONE TIME date
• Sophisticated-fear-based-management: 3 unmistakable signs
• Interns or cheap labor? Making internship count
• “Travis may be Uber, but Uber cannot be Travis: The curious case of Charismatic leaders”

Diversity and Inclusion

• "Not just a pretty face": Why beauty needs to be justified
• Not FEMALE bodies, we need FEMININE minds: The missing link in organizational diversity
• “Women can’t code because of Biology: 3 reasons it was a BIG MISTAKE for google to fire James Damore (perspectives of a feminist)
• 3 taboo questions Millennials are asking, leaving hiring managers shocked
• Why the ‘Corporate-style Women’s Day Celebrations’ gives me the creeps
• The OOUCH of maternity leaves: Why managers secretly dread it
• Man or Woman? Who should lead gender diversity? Why we are simply asking the WRONG question.
• “She has good figure”: Why creating a safe place to work takes much more than just sexual harrassment policy

Life & purpose

• ”But I have bills to pay..”: Why the PREMISE we build our life on, DECIDES how far we will go..
• “How is life? Well, going on.”: Why you should NOT quit your job, but GRADUATE from it
• The Monkey Catcher’s Lesson: Why we get stuck in our jobs, situations, emotions..
• “Anger is remembered pain”: 3 steps to healing from difficult experiences at workplace
• “How is life? Well, going on..”: Why you should NOT quit your job, but GRADUATE from it
• A “50-over-50” list: Pressures of adults “growing up” in a world of over-achieving youngsters
• The (difficult) art of doing nothing and why it matters in a world proud of “busy”
• 500 Uber rides without driver talking on the phone: My personal starfish story
• “Here is a muffin that will make you successful”: The unspoken truth about success
• 5 reasons we should “stop fighting” for a cause
• “You are hiding something”: 4 reasons we find it difficult to trust those we love
• “Pick your battles”: Fine, but how?

Education

• The Yin and Yang of Ed-Tech: Will schools even survive the next 10 years?
• Why we “grown-ups” are the biggest reason the education system must change urgently
• “No chair for teacher”: Is it time we do away with this regressive and myopic policies