Quest for learning vs Overqualified

As a person who has cleared the final exams of ICSI/ICMA(Institute of Company Secretaries of India; Institute of Cost & Management Accountants of India) along with Chartered Accountancy, and also PGDM(from IIM Ahmedabad), I sometimes run into this query from others whether I still feel all these qualifications as relevant. Coming from a Tam-Bram household where all learning is valued, my core philosophy is that no investment in learning goes waste. And then, I do see many folks doing CA+CFA, CS+LLB, as also the new kids on the block such as CFP/FRM etc. But does learning need a credential, or is learning for the sake of it also good?

Udemy/Coursera initially started their courses with a free for all approach, before they realized that employers seek verifiable evidence of course completion. They therefore introduced the certification track and in some cases, supervised exams at Pearson centres. That gave employers and stakeholders greater confidence in the academic integrity, and inspired some universities to offer part/full courses on the online model. So even for self driven learning, some employers may seek evidence of completion and hence a credential is born.

But why pursue higher learning in the first place, assuming its not directly related to job? Some people do this to prepare for a step-up, yet others for career change, and others just for accumulating knowledge and a possible Guiness book of records. The last category who do not directly apply their knowledge in work or projects, could be considered overqualified, but others  merely as quest for learning. Here I rest my case

Why online executive MBA like ePGP from IIM may not be worth it

Below is a comparison table I prepared for various PGP programs of IIM Ahmedabad

	IIM Ahmedabad Courses
Particulars	PGP	PGPx	ePGP
Duration(Mths)	21	9	12
Base Fee(Lakhs)	21	24.5	17.45
Admission:
Min age	NA	27	NA
Min Workexp	0	4 years	3 years
Test Scores	NA	GMAT	NA
Placement	Yes	Yes	No

The recently introduced ePGP is an online MBA program aimed at working professionals. It confers alumni status, but without the placement support. So for those seeking the brand, they can get it if they otherwise qualify for admission and manage to complete the program. As per the training partner Hughes Education https://www.hugheseducation.com/iim-ahmedabad/epgp 

1. pedagogy followed for the program will be on blend of lectures, case studies, online lectures, projects, peer to peer learning, self- learning and simulations. Mentoring by faculty and access to learning resources of IIMA will also be made available. 
2. Campus modules (three or four) of one week or more each conducted at the IIMA Campus.
3. Thursday 06.45 pm - 09.55 pm; Friday 06.45 pm – 09.55 pm; Saturday 06.45 pm - 09.55 pm
   Sunday 12.10 noon – 03.20 pm
4.  two-year post-graduate diploma programme (with added flexibility of completion within maximum 3 years) offered on Interactive Onsite Learning (IOL) platform

While the education quality and peer group interaction will doubtless be good, the question is whether it is worth the investment or not. In my view

1. the admission criteria is nowhere as rigourous as the mainstream MBA. So the signalling effect is lost. 
2. Can a working professional really spare these many days this often? Needs real discipline
3. Lack of placement support will encourage companies to sponsor this(considering even a MDP costs 0.5-1lakh, this is way more value for money), but lower value to the candidate

What else is an option

1. Focussed courses with Certification Track in Udemy/Coursera/HBS/Wharton-Approx Cost between $10-$100 excluding certification cost
2. Networking Groups
3. In person training of hard skills like financial modelling

Time for India to derecognize/stop student loans for bad courses?

NASSCOM, FII, industry leaders claim that anywhere from 10%-25% of India's graduates are directly employable after they graduate. Now, one may argue that college is not a trade school, so companies should not expect colleges to do the hard lifting and tailor the curriculum to their needs. Well, that is true especially when it comes to technical subjects where the pace of curriculum revision is slow so companies do not find the contents relevant to their needs. But as it turns out, the issues are with very basic technical skills(coding, logic, knowing accounting principles) and soft skills(English, writing, reading, etiquette, critical thinking etc). Recruiters can quite easily teach technical skills to those with the requisite aptitude but to teach soft skills to 20year olds, is something which should have been handled at school and college levels. So what is the result of this?

• Low proportion of employable, this is opening the route for 'finishing school' institutes like Purple Leap, NIIT and others. 
• Enormous application/job ratio for 'safe' PSU jobs
• Very low level of English and critical discourse on public forums. For example, when someone posts a job with clear instructions to email  the CV, some retards reply with comments under that asking the recruiter to consider their applications.
• High level of plagiarism and deterioration of writing skills, as students copy/outsource project reports and assignments. 

 While one can go with the finishing school option, this is a clear recognition that the system is broken. But thanks to the powerful education barons(many of them elected legislators) owning these colleges, there is little likelihood of change in the system, despite what AICTE/UGC/NAAC may do. So what is the way out? Social media reviews of colleges, compulsary national level passing out test on the lines of GRE, which would be used to measure college quality at an aggregate level etc. These scores could be then used by colleges to fix filters for the college programs eligible for education loans.And if tracking the employment status is possible, even that could be used as a metric, as also student rating of the college after graduation(via social media/forums)

In the present system, the false notion of education inclusion makes banks extend loans even to colleges they know are worthless, and to students for enrolling in those colleges. This has already lead to increasing education loan defaults, though not on the scale prevalent in USA. Maybe its time to do what China did(http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/11/23/china-to-cancel-college-majors-that-dont-pay/) and pull the plug on ineffective subjects. I recognize that these would include many arts/commerce courses besides engineering, and while I do not have an elitist bias or prejudice towards any stream, one should recognize that if this present situation continues, the education bubble may set into India as well/.