Education in India - Doing the numbers

by Dilip Chabria

Photograph by Bernard Gagnon         

Six degrees of separation refers to the idea that everyone is on an average approximately six steps away from any other person on the surface of Earth. However, this theory does not account for the fact that the "last mile connect" will in all likelihood be over a digital medium, and as a majority of all personal communication is now  non-voice - we email,  tweet, scribble, and share much more than we talk on any given day - there's a good chance you wont be able to reach out to nearly 300M of India's population. Unfortunately, this would be not because they aren't covered by "the network", but due to the fact that they simply cannot read or write. In fact, one may be able to connect with someone millions of miles away on topics of international importance, but connecting with an unlettered person just a few miles away on seemingly mundane issues may prove to be surprisingly difficult.

The inability  to connect, to interact, and to understand  the world around us   in some ways denies an  individual  a basic human right. This state of affairs takes a dangerous turn when viewed in the context of the universal adult franchise - when more than 30% of the electorate cannot read and comprehend a candidate's manifesto.  How, then, is the individual expected to "cast his or her vote out of free will"? Wouldn't the "free will" always be influenced by the will of someone else?

As an interesting statistic, the number of unlettered people in India is very similar to the number of people living below the poverty line. Having stated that, I would immediately caution the reader against theorizing any causation.  It is not the case that only the unlettered are below the poverty line, or somehow by becoming lettered, one automatically graduates above the poverty line. Although, one would imagine that the chances of "graduating" above the line are likely to increase in such a case.

Let's try doing the numbers on these 300M people - lets also modify the worst case law of averages to apply as 1 in 10 instead of 1 in 8, as it is  easier to  measure:

- so let's say 1 in 10 people given primary education actually "get it",

- then 1 in 10 of those actually go on to high schools,

- then 1 in 10 of those actually go on to get a  college degree,

- then 1 in 10 of those get the opportunity to do scientific research

- then 1 in 10 of those actually figure out something real, new, and exciting that makes this world a better place to live in.

Despite using this worst case scenario, it appears that we have a hidden "Super 3000" in the unlettered crowd without really stretching the assumptions too far. This truly is a demographic dividend that we are yet to tap into.

Dilip manages the branding, education outreach efforts of Team Indus, India�s only entry into the Google Lunar X Prize.

Website: http://www.teamindus.in/

and http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/

De Montreal a Vancouver (2012)

Este post ha sido actualizado a mi pagina web:

http://www.anima-infografica.com/2012/10/de-montreal-a-vancouver/

Hace poco tiempo me movi a Vancouver por diversos motivos, pero principalmente de trabajo y mas oportunidades.

Es cierto que en Montreal hay mas empresas de videojuegos, pero Vancouver hay mas produccion de video, como mi trabajo es 3D, puedo pasarme de una a otra sin mucho problema, pero.. en Montreal luego de 3 meses de buscar trabajo solo tuve 1 entrevista, (aclaro que luego si encontre trabajo, pero freelance) Vancouver en menos de 1 mes ya va por la 4ta, no quiero decir q no haya trabajo pero al parecer es mas selectivo (amigos/contactos/parentesco) y por otro lado hay una crisis en el 3D y graficas en general, el outsource hacia paises como india, china, etc han bajado los costos, siendo q muchas empresas ya tienen oficinas alli, y el costo de un animador en Canada representa 5 en esos paises.

Por otro lado, la produccion de video y cine es mas dificil el outsource, ya que el material por lo general se produce, edita y post produce aca tecnicamente es mas dificil trabajar en outsource (vease el tama�o de un archivo de video de 10min en HD full calidad es de 50Gigas+), asi que la oferta de trabajos es mayor (por el momento).

Ya estando mas de un mes en Vancouver, hay algunas cosas que he notado en el diario vivir, y una q me sorprendio fue el costo de vida, los alquieleres son altos, pff.. 30% mas q en Montreal, PERO la comida es mas barata, ejemplo: la leche (hecha en quebec) cuesta hasta 1$ menos aca.. y asi muchas cosas mas, debo aclarar q las cosas compro en superstore o en los mercados asiaticos.

De asiaticos.. deberia llamarse Wangcouver, jejeje bueno hay zonas de la ciudad que el 90% de la gente es asiatica y el 90% de las tiendas no aceptan tarjeta de debito y peor de credito, asi que cash.. mm.. sera para evadir impuestos???.. (aclaro los negocios chicos).

En general Vancouver es una ciudad bastante multicultural, muy linda en cuanto a vistas y parques, el trato de la gente es cordial, pero seco (bueno los latinos somos mas calidos en ese sentido).

Y finalmente aca no se siente esa presion entre franceses y ingleses, diria que el 50% de esta ciudad es inmigrante, y todos jalan en una direccion.