How students in Indian colleges are taught programming

In most colleges in India, the instructor writes code on the blackboard (entire programs) that the students blindly copy into their notebooks. Then, they memorize these programs before the exam and reproduce them verbatim.

The sad part is students who really learn programming end up being penalized because their solution in the exam will differ from what was originally written on the blackboard (most faculty members are incompetent and therefore have no way of knowing whether a student's answer is correct or not unless it matches that supplied in some sort of an answer key).

The linked document is a scanned notebook from a student in one of the (supposedly) best colleges in South India. One look at that document will tell you volumes about what is wrong with CS education in India.

Here are the 2011 stats by country for Google's CodeJam contest: http://www.go-hero.net/jam/11/regions. China had 1689 entrants, of which 97 made it to the third round. India had 1525 and 3 respectively.

Feynman on physics education in Brazil:

http://v.cx/2010/04/feynman-brazil-education

Wow that's embarrassing!

I cannot accept that all the wrong is only with the faculties. I am not siding anywhere, just what I see in a third person perspective.

* It is the system that is wrong. *

Parents, Faculties and Students are just one part of the system.

I had studied in an ICSE board school till my 10 grade. They (the school) usually encourage students to think and solve problems on their own. They even had this thing that students do stuff by imagination and that is the core towards learning, so they never kill your imagination, but try to polish it and show the right path for you to proceed. Isn't that real education? I later (had to) switched to State Board where the syllabus I found was damn easy, yet I could not score the maximum although I knew the subject well. It was because I was not able to vomit (exactly as you said a xerox) what was in the book on the paper. But that apart, the marks I got was directly influencing me go get into college. And from which college I came, directly influenced the job I got through placement. So whom do you blame? Is it the faculty that's helping you to score 100% so that you get into the right college? or the System that is so corrupt and so so fucked up that makes you one amongst the uneducated?

Note: This is purely my opinion. I am not enforceing or propagating anything

So,

* How many colleges we have and how many boards we have and how many tests we have? Why people develop inferiority or superiority complexes at these times? Why should a guy from another board feel easy with the course while a guy from another feel it tough? What is the Root Cause for the problem? My friend its THE education system!

* Why does someone feel IITs and IIMs are not their cup of tea? I am sure that with right motivation, teaching and at the right age they try, they will surely get into any T.

* We are not living in colonial India. It is democratic (or is it?) Why do we need a reservation system when all the students feel the faculties are stupid and end up going and studying abroad? or is it that people go and study abroad and think faculties here are stupid and make a reservation system?

* What the fuck is wrong with the education ministry? Why we need different standards of education and then preach all people are same? Sack them all!

* Is education really passing tests with flying colours?