A Well-Intentioned MBA Rant

It’s high time educational institutes stop blaming students for their lack of cooperation and instead start working on their own offerings.

Giving vague assignments that add no real value to us as learners or to them as receivers of that assignment is pointless? Most of it is just mandated busywork to trick students into revising the concepts learned in that course, which almost always goes in vain.

People are innately aware of what is worth learning and what is not. You can’t force a person to learn something they don’t find useful. I mean sure, you can try, but if the student doesn’t want to learn they are not going to, no matter how much you coax them. 

Instead of disciplining or reprimanding them when their submissions are sub-par, why not reflect and understand why your course is receiving such a dismal reception? There must be something wrong or inept on your part as well. Else, why would your “customers” (aka the students) buy the product (eg. a college education) but not consume it? It’s a clear loss for them.

And yet it’s a rampant issue. Institutes enforce strict attendance rules, link it to total score, involve parents, and even go as far as to restrict students from appearing for examinations if they don’t meet the mandated attendance percentage. It’s akin to using brute force instead of having a civilised discourse to address the problem. 

This will only provide them with temporary results and not real cooperation. Real cooperation comes when you are able to show students the direct value they can derive from your offerings, when they feel that their time and curiosity are being respected, not just managed. 

If institutes truly want students to care, they need to stop recycling the same tired lectures and slides year after year. Education must evolve. It should be rooted in application-based learning that reflects the complexities of the real world. You can't have courses like 'Ethics in Business' which are the epitome of common sense and expect students to pay

attention.

Another helpful change could be to group students by their interests and allowing them to explore, specialize, and dive deeper into what excites them. This can truly upgrade the learning experience. Education shouldn’t feel like a production line churning out candidates for job applications. 

It's beyond me why institutions are so obsessed with having their students crack the interview, whether or not they have prepared them for the actual job responsibilities? When that’s where the value is. That’s where learning should actually happen. The knowledge should stick because it’s meaningful and useful, not because it’s graded.

To sum it up, students are not only capable of learning, but rather they’re eager to learn. That’s why they compete with thousands across the country to earn a place in your institute. But their attention isn’t automatic; it’s earned. They’ll truly invest in what you offer only when it feels relevant, engaging, and applicable to their lives and careers, not when it’s just another checkbox on an outdated syllabus.

WOW. I did not realise I was so frustrated with my MBA.

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Today’s craving - Watermelon