The unusual case of an Indian student who dropped out of formal schooling but got admission into Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a lesson for us on how our education system has become so rigid. Even our IITs, due to their strict regulations about minimum marks, refused to let Malvika Raj Joshi study science, despite her talent. Our scholastic systems are so marks-oriented and favour learning by rote that there’s little scope for extraordinary talent to shine except in competitions in coding, computer programming and Maths Olympiads. Our higher education institutions are too pedantic to allow anything but exam marks to determine a child’s strengths. The Chennai Mathematical Institute, founded to honour prodigy Srinivasan Ramanujan’s memory, was the exception that could see the light and offer her training.
Malvika, of course, had an advantage in that her mother dedicated herself to defining her “unschooling” curriculum. She was bright enough to win medals in informatics contests, giving her the chance to catch the eye of MIT. As a society we are too busy handling the huge numbers involved in basic education to look for bright kids. Those who come through despite the system like Malvika help us celebrate the fact that talent abounds in our country. We must find a way to discover talent.
