Mandi talk on Micro finance model of Yunus
I became a faculty out of choice. I love teaching job. If I have next life, I wish to born again as a teacher.
I m a professor in top B School in India. Very reputed college. From outside it looks grand, great and dream come true.
Faculty, and students in the college are said to be of high caliber.
However, in the college I felt many things .. HEART RENDERING !
Every outsiders wants to get in . Once they get in, Every insider wants to get out side !
One, faculty say 'Students are not interested in studies'. Students say 'studies are not interesting'. We can see this in the students dull and grim faces.. They will be just waiting when ever the session will be over, college will get over and leave it forever. when will be the college is over and get placement !
This is very surprising thing. Because after incurring so unusually high cost for education, grown up students, that too well qualified and selected after said to be systematic methods of screening.. ARE NOT INTERESTED IN STUDIES.. BORED OF STUDIES !
In reality, this does not reflect the students but the teachers. Where as I heard my students telling the same in a REPHRASED way..
After some thinking, I rephrased it as ' Studies are not made enough interesting'. This rephrasing has huge meaning if one want to derive out of.
Studies are NOT interesting, Studies are BORING !
Funny things in a college:
1. College acquires and distributes INFORMATION ( not knowledge ) somebody , somewhere made and gives to these people. Will it be useful to them is a big question mark ? They perpetually dependent on others for so called knowledge. College is supposed to make knowledge here and use knowledge here and create again new knowledge...... NO..
2. College rejects so many students and select so few students . Most of them are rich and wealthy, well educated family background, trained and helped audience .
3. College also makes invariably ready the students for naukari. not job creators !
That is the wrong with the colleges I argued with them.
Two, Many many people are rejected for studying in the college. It is huge number. 80 % are rejected. It is again painful. Coming from humble background, I feel the wastage of humanity. How come somebody interested to study and the academics say that you are not 'Fit For'..In my view it is ridiculous. Academics say to all those people rejected, . You are NOT study worthy !. I respond to the academics ' You are not teaching worthy '..
Three, It is painful to see that 'Small learning is not offered' to millions . where as some are offered so much of learning ! It is imbalance !
Four, Performance of academics is shameful. 80 % of graduates are Unemployaable ! 99 % are made to become ' Yes Boss' / Job seekers !
As a faculty of Management I always profess elegant theories of making the work more meaningful, creating interesting work in organisations, innovating everything that is done in the organisations, motivating people etc. This unpleasantness among the students cannot be just neglected and it has its roots in the academic design. It is not just something that is happening. It is not that the students are bad.. and that they are not interested in studies. But the academic studies were not as interesting as they could have been..
Even my attempts to make learning experiential also could not yield results in this regard. This is my personal assessment of the situation although none of the students express this so clearly out.
Even most of the faculty agree on this but rarely raise and try to focus on to solve. The problem is not new and was there from so many years, from the day the college started ! I suppose.... !
Second thing, hundreds and ten times and fifteen times humans in numbers are REJECTION for the admission on so called merit basis.. Colleges reject people saying that you are 'Not Study Worthy'.. A blatant and horrible way of treating other people who are interested in studies. If in a society where education is so less available so many people are rejected is so atrocious for me. I felt the reject audience say that these 'Colleges Not Teach Worthy' which is equally justified. Harshness, roothlessness system is..
I criticize education.. rejecting MAJORITY people on two counts.. POOR on affordability and Non- Iintelligent criteria !
There is nothing to wrong to reject... but there is nothing to wrong to come out with alternate educational system including these rejected masses.. Mandi is such a method.
Academic system says the students are NOT STUDY WORTHY !.. Same thing is rephrased by the so called REJECTS as ACADEMIC SYSTEM IS NOT TEACHING WORTHY ! ..
It was frustrating feeling personally and felt useless in this situation. Something I felt I have to do as a professor. I am a person of little things. What I can do is my focus. I dont have any mega plan. My focus is action. My focus is solution and here and now.. I jumped at and done what came to my mind. Some thing that came to mind. M A N D I ! ..No research, No big thinking and strategy , no approvals , and no big plans !
I use lot of educational toys in class room as props to teach concepts. It was experiential learning. It flashed in my mind. What happens if I ask my students to sell these toys / props and learn the subjects ?
Students are given little quantity of intelligent toys and asked them to sell in Mandi so that they can practice their learning. For their effort of selling they also gain certain percentage as commission.
When students are confined to four walls of class room they are unhappy with. I told them, Let me share a opportunity. U need not be in the class for a day. You go out and spend time on the streets. This is done as part of academic learning. As you go round in the streets, u try to campaign and sell small value of learning tools in the field. You will get marks for your work. You will also get some commission for your selling, You will also get learning out of the work. That is called Mandi.
Mandi has become my life mission.
Initially Students were confused, and shocked. Some raised doubts if they can sell. Some also indirectly raised why and what is the need to sell educational toys in the market place as a MBA students.. Some expressed their doubt if they are asked to do selling to make them sales people. But somehow, my enthu and imposition as a course faculty dominated them and they went to the market and sold the toys.
I thought it is simple thing and the story will end there.
Mandi was great success. Students started feeling the reason behind it. It was real realization for them. Before Mandi and after Mandi there is complete transformaiton among the students of Mandi. They became big advocates of Mandi.
Mandi has become regular feature ! Students started asking for it.
Students started seeing me as great professor. They were feeling me of funny and strange way .. I became a angle for doing such little thing. I felt if I become a angel for such little and tiny thing called Mandi sale why not I do more of it with more students, and more times ! Fun to do more.. and become super angel or something bigger than this .. If so many students so different why dont u do many more.. The idea gripped me.
I want to be systematic.. not emotional..poerson centric.. Idea struck me. If I can do alone, why not I share this with my other faculty. I thought it is brilliant idea. I should go to other faculty and share Mandi with them and they will also do it and get delighted . They will also become angels .
I told them this. They heard it. They fell from sky ! They said // NO chance ! They told ... Colleges are not the places to conduct any economic / business activity as part of academic learming. How small and tiny mandi is not the issue ! Colleges are academic places. The purity need to be maintained ! Colleges will loose their chastity ! I asked why not ! They said... No ! The mandate for the colleges is Listening, reading and learning,. and not doing and earning .
I shared that.." learning is incomplete without practice. They are the right people to do , without doing learning is incomplete. Above all, they are also enjoying Mandi
Colleges are not the places of selling and to do business ! Students are not joined the colleges to sell. Colleges are temples of learning. Academics are the hub of knowledge creators.
Knowledge diffusion, and Knowledge application is not the focus of academics.
This is how academics are designed. What can we do, That is the way the colleges are !
I was telling them that the such small sales has such huge impact can be done why not ! They dont move !
They said.. if you want to do.. and go and do..
If you want to do Mandi .. Go the director and get permission but do it individually. No faculty was willing to be part of Mandi. Deans, Directors, told the same. This is the way colleges are operated. If u want to do , u are welcome.
Do Mandi at your own personal risk. But colleges cannot ask other faculty to do this.
Basic criticism is.. students do not do, they need not do, they canot do ..they might resort to malpractice, who will be responsible for the risks that they face in the market place, Students parents might not like this.. Who knows what they are doing in Mandi and what they claim they are doing in Mandi ! How to align what the students are doing in Mandi and what they are studying in classroom ?
More discussion and more debate. I stick to my point they stick to theirs
They also thrown a challenge to me saying that once a professor can do, but it cannot be repeated more times, and more places, and more students ! different toys ! and for all kinds of students and studies !
I extended this Mandi concept done in many colleges and with so many types of students and so many different types of products are sold and so many subjects are learned.
Professors are unimpressed for Mandi results in many places and many colleges. This is big lesson I carry with me all the time. How one has to struggle with mindsets. Once people set to their mind it is extremely difficult to undo it. Professors, see results, but dont accept it / understood them. Their notions are final. Professors what they learnt all these days and what they have done all these days , canot be wrong. Colleges cannot be wrong, Mandi must be wrong, They will be waiting repeatedly for the wrong results to come.
Mind set,
Habits die hard,
Beliefs hard to change
Proof shown against the beliefs is not respected. but neglected.
I say, when and if a student says that s/he cannot sell, Do not know how to sell, They do not need to sell, the opposition for selling is not their own. Some of people I ask me why you are insisting this. Why you are doing this? It was taught to them that they cannot sell. and they learned over the years. It is not their voice .. It is history voice.. They are uttering. covered by those fears.. layer by layer. It was pealing of them from the outside world it made them to think like that way ! It was comfort of dependence that the acquired they speak out that they are not interested in selling !
Impact of Mandi is.. Income generating learning activity.
- Generate value by applying knowledge + Pay back + and move forward
I realised, that there is something missing as part of conventional education .. All students not necessarily of one category - DEPENDENT learners . There can be some students who wanted to be INDEPENDEBTS and study.. There are some students who wanted to be of Self Help, and Self Relaint categogy of learners. This is what is missing in the conventional system of education. Assuming only one category of learning is insufficient. There is need for alternate way of learning.
There is no training, There is no background check for Mandi. Anybody is welcome.
Mandians turn in to teachers. They are students turned in to teachers. They teach to the teachers .
Mandi is owned by them. It is planned by them. One crore sales we made. so many students sold in the market.. Owned by the students, designed for so,... so many subjects them learned. interesting learning method.. The policies are made by them. It is for them, by them and also of them .when ever I get awards, who should get the awards, I say that the awards must go to all those 10,000 students who are owners of Mandi.. and not me. I am only their servant..and representative. I am standing here as the implied representative of those owners . Fantastic thing for the whole academic world. not only for NITIE .
In a way education is also responsible for this. Literally education decides their thinking. Students become teachers. They cannot and do not know how to get out of their professors ! How to make individual minds free but they must be educated !
Mini versions.. of professors
What I did.. in selling those small value of educational toys I gave, purpose of income generative learning activity. Thats all it was done. This makes the students to pay back their learning costs, and utilise the selling activity as learning activity.
One thing it often needs to be explained that why selling educational toys alone ! .. It is to practice what is learned ! Whenever I crticise the academic system I say that academic system does not allow the learners to practice ! It is a fact that almost nothing is practiced by the students . It is 100 % theory that they go through ! one more thing I add is that they dont practiced what they learn !
Professors dont agree for this..
stats do not tell this.. i challenge this.. even 1 percent if they practice it is OK. there is no 1 % . I make 100 % of practice. and that too practice of what is learned then and there it self .
Money made as a student through studies has enormous learning potential . Rather the same income / earning done out side might not.. If Mandi on one day will be so good why one day ? Why not everyday by every student and every college ? Mandi has become a culture as part of learning
Mandi does not take money from any body.. it just generates value inside. how it runs. as a whole does not need money from outside. it is what we want to prove to the world that higher education does not need money ministry, and x and Y and Z . It can be self reliant.. Anywhere, and any professor can launch Mandi anywhere in the world. it is the youth power.. intelligence , sutides, collaborative power,
With in one year it makes it costs.
Doing different is difficult..
Income generating
pay back.. make moeny .
