Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Greetings from the Bangalore Club

At the Bangalore Club
Greetings from the Bangalore Club, in downtown Bengaluru. I am in India for a wedding, and our hosts have put up the wedding party at their club. The club was Founded in 1868 for British officers, and is an oasis of tranquility in the bustle of the city. The club is a good metaphor for India, and Bengaluru is particular, rushing headlong into a high tech future, while attempting to retain traditions, and work trough its colonial past. Each day I receive a newspaper under the door (yes, they still provide newspapers at the Club, which can be read in the stuffed leather chairs). Sunday's headline was "Skills training: An incomplete solution to India's jobs crisis" (Deccan Herald,  E T B Sivapriyan, 23 April 2023). The article took up most of pages one and two, indicating the importance given to education in India. The issues are very similar to Australia: How useful is formal training in getting a job? Why are so many students failing to complete? Are they getting the right skills? Do centrally funded training programs work?  

If Australia can work out solutions to these issues domestically, there is potential for export of training systems to India. But it might be better to work with India, on common solutions, than assume Australia has all the answers.

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