One of the supreme ironies of the existing Indian technical scene is the co-existence of a few islands of global-level excellence in a sea of abysmal mediocrity.

I am prompted to highlight this after the successful flight of the GSLV 4 on September 2. At the Bangalore headquarters of the ISRO, which designed, built and launched this highly complex satellite launcher, a compound wall, constructed less than a year ago, came crashing down when the first heavy rains hit the city  recently.

Agreed, that it was not ISRO’s scientists and engineers who built the compound wall. But why ISRO’s gargantuan capabilities could not have properly vetted the quality of this wall is an intriguing question. While India can boast of possessing an ultra-thin cream of global-level competency in the realm of cutting edge technology, the capability at the grassroots level of technology is third rate.

As ordinary citizens, we have to endure this great divide every day in our lives. Bangalore boasts of one of the largest concentration of designers of large scale integrated circuits in the world. But try getting hold of an electrician who will be able to neatly wire up your home without any incipient loose contacts. Most probably your search will be fruitless.

This situation has arisen due to the topsy-turvy nature of post-school education that we adopted after Independence which emphasised the degree and neglected the diploma/certificate.

The result has been an inverted pyramid of skills where formally trained technicians  are in short supply while there is a relative abundance of graduates in every field. Most of those who end up performing these tasks just pick up the knowledge “on the job”, which is not the same thing as learning the skills formally. Their competence is limited and the quality of their work is wanting.

Because of this shortage of skilled personnel, which has been further accentuated by their mass migration to West Asia and Western countries (in the case of nurses), we have also developed a cultural trait called the “chalta hai” attitude. This is nothing but condoning shoddy work for the simple reason that demanding quality would either delay getting the task done or not get it done at all.

Developed countries like Japan, Germany, Austria, South Korea, Switzerland, Canada, USA, UK, Sweden, etc have a totally different take on skilled professionals. Rigorous formal training, apprenticeship, qualifying exams, guild or association membership, work quality standards, intolerance of poor quality work including legal recourse to damage claims, etc are the hallmark of the education and work of skilled professionals in these countries.

It is not that we do not have formal skill training institutions. We do, in the form of ITIs and nursing colleges. But the overall investment in them is totally inadequate, compared to qualitative and quantitative requirements of the country. Strangely, the clamour is for IITs and IIMs rather than for more investment in these skill development institutions.

To some extent, the manufacturing, medical, aviation and hospitality sectors have realised the crucial importance of developing skilled professionals and initiated their own in-house training courses. One of the best initiatives in this regard is the technician training programme of Mico Bosch in Bangalore. But one does not see the same kind of initiatives in other fields like construction or retails.