人人爭當工程師

還記得2011年讓不少人贊不絕口的印度影片《三個白癡》（3 Idiots）嗎？片中三位主人公就讀的皇家工程學院其實就是指印度理工學院。而印度理工學院在印度各學府中的地位可是至高無上的。我們來聽聽印度人的工程師夢吧。

There’s a joke about Indian fathers. A father says to his son， “You can study any field you want as long as it’s engineering.” Dipanshu Aurora is only 15.He’s convinced that engineering is the only option， so much so that he’s overlooking one potentially important obstacle.

Reporter： Are you good at math and science？

Dipanshu： No， I am not good at math and science. It’s challenge for me.

So Dipanshu left home after 10th grade and came to the town of Kota. The town’s famous in India for the dozens of cram schools that prepare students for the IIT exam. The IIT is the Indian Institute of Technology， the Holy Grail of education in India. Dipanshu spends six days a week sitting in classes like these. Forget sports， literature or history； just math， physics and chemistry for two years.

Mortaza Falsia is 18， and he says he’s not like many of the other students here. He’s sincerely interested in engineering， but he failed the exam， so he’s here in Kota for a year of tutoring. I asked him and some of his friends why young people don’t study liberal arts in India.

Mortaza： If you’re taking arts， then you’re scoffed at， you’re made fun of.

They tell me there are classes in things like psychology.

Friend A： …and if you take those courses， you’re going nowhere. You cannot expect a future over like taking a psychology…

Friend B： …in India.

Friend A： …yeah， in India. In India.

According to Mortaza and his friends， science is the only subject worth studying， but only if it leads to an engineering or medical degree.

Mortaza： They’re just looking to improve their style of living， and it’s not really the want of knowledge or that with that really motivates them. It’s basically better style of living； to achieve that.

The problem is IIT only has about 10，000 seats， and half a million students take the entrance exam each year. That’s about 50 applicants for every seat. Compare that to Harvard， where 17 students apply for every student admitted.

This obsession with engineering has an unintended effect. The country has a shortage of lawyers， architects and psychologists. Ironically， it doesn’t even have enough professors to teach all the students enrolled in its elite engineering schools.

But for Dipanshu Aurora， the 15-year-old who says he’s bad at math， it’s simple. He’d like to be an air traffic controller， but the job doesn’t pay enough. Dipanshu： No good college， then no good job， then salary’s less， then future is spoiled， no good wife， no good anything else.

So he’s boning up for the engineering entrance exam next year； he and half a million other wouldbe engineers.

有這樣一個關于印度父親的笑話。父親對兒子說：“你想學什么專業都可以，只要是工程學就行。”迪潘蘇·奧羅拉才15歲，他堅信工程學是他的惟一選擇。他的想法如此堅定，以至于他忽視了他將面臨的一個嚴重問題。

記者：你擅長數學和科學課嗎？

迪潘蘇：不，我的數學和科學課都不行。這對我來說是個挑戰。

于是，迪潘蘇念完十年級后就離開家鄉，來到科塔市。這座城市以有幾十所專門為學生參加印度理工學院入學試提供填鴨式課程的學校而聞名全國。在印度，印度理工學院是學子們心目中的教育圣地。迪潘蘇每周有六天要在這樣的課堂里上課。什么體育、文學、歷史，想都不用想，他們在兩年的時間里只學習數學、物理和化學。

莫塔扎·法爾西亞今年18歲，他說他與其他學生不同，因為他是真的對工程學感興趣，但卻未能通過入學考試，所以他來到科塔補習一年。我問他和他的朋友，為什么在印度，年輕人不學習文科。

莫塔扎：如果你學習藝術，你就會被嘲笑，成為笑話。

他們告訴我，確實也有像心理學這樣的課程。

朋友甲：……如果你選修上這些課程，那你就沒有未來可言，上像心理學這樣的課，你是不會有前途的……

朋友乙：……在印度。

朋友甲：……對，我說的是在印度，在印度是這樣。