“Are we in the 'Business of Education' or is 'Education a Business' for us?”

“Are we in the 'Business of Education' or is 'Education a Business' for us?”
I am addressing this question to all those who are in Education. I want honest views. Asked by- Prof.B.L.Handoo

Vinod Kad wrote:

If you are charging your students for educating them then you are in 'business' of education like any other business.

But if you are educating your students as a hobby or as a collective effort then you are in 'education' and not in 'business'.

A 'collective effort' means when you pool resources of your students collectively (not individually) to educate them.

The best example of 'collective effort' is the centuries old tradition of 'langar' prevalent even today in most of the Gurudwaras of the Sikh community.

They pool resources of individual devotees/ donors together and then serve them back in the form of 'langar'. So nobody pays 'individually' or 'separately' for the food (like in a hotel) yet everybody gets food including those who could donate much more and those who could not donate even a rupee.

Same was the system of education in Ancient India when a Guru was running an Ashram / School from collective donations/offerings from their students and imparting them education collectively and not charging them individually. Thus even a poor student was getting same education opportunity as a rich one because he need not pay individually for his education.

I hope you got my point. If not I can explain more.

Vinod


Natalia Fernanda Tieso wrote:

To what extent education is a business depends on your own personal motivation, I mean... in most LA countries, professionals working on education do not choose working in the field just because of money or income - salaries are quite low - and most teachers do it because of an inner feeling of (job) satisfaction and development.
On the other hand, I believe that education does not only deal with teaching itself, take policy-making for instance or even implementation of national curricula or courses of studies... people who are in charge of taking decisions related to education rarely think about education as a business, but rather as a social service, even to improve communities or societies in general.
Hope these points’ help!
Nat

Katina Faulk wrote:
Sadly, I think it is more of a business for the U.S.

Sanjay Goel wrote:

These are not mutually exclusive categories and there is sufficient space for doing the 1st while also complying with the constraints of 2nd.

Rajesh Shenoy wrote:
I think the whole idea of having educational institutions as non profit organizations in today’s world is not feasible. It should be viewed as a business model and this form of education as business hopefully would bring in better infrastructure and quality of teaching which is lacking in many institutions today. Whatever said and done even though most of the institutions are run by trusts or societies the funds are siphoned off in a systematic manner using the loopholes available in the law else how are we to explain certain Medical Colleges charging corers for postgraduate seats and you do not see this amount being ploughed back into development of these colleges but the members of the management team grow richer year by year.

Kevin Harville wrote:

It varies. The point is to empower the students. That should always be the primary goal. In the process we have to make a living or stay in business. I don't see primary education as a for-profit venture. Perhaps college shouldn't be either. Of course people should be free to choose their option.

Dan McCoy wrote:
That all depends on the intention of the administration.

I teach part time at a community college, and they have taken the stance that they are a "learning college." Instructors associate Profs and Profs have professional development programs available, and everything is build around enabling the student to learn and retain information. This is the business of education.

Then you have your universities where TAs are doing all the teaching and grading so Profs can write papers, and get grants for the university. Certainly not to say that TAs can't be good teachers. These doe-eyed individuals have such a zeal for it that the excitement can be contagious. However, this isn't even the business of education. This is the business of research.

Finally, your diploma mills. The administration wants it's profs to consider a C their lowest grade so that people can pay their tuition and get their grades. No concern about retention or teaching methods. Not even research or classes being taught by doe-eyed idealistic TAS This the education as a business.

Andrew Scharf wrote:

Excellent question and one which is often discussed but not generally in public forums.

Let's all be clear: Education is a business. When you regard the fees being charged to file an application, fees to sit standardized exams, the tuition, let alone all the additional tag-ons, you come away with the conception that this sector generates big revenues.

There is nothing wrong with making money. However, many people in education find themselves in a twist over this 'philosophical issue'. Why? Because this is 'education' and the notion of education as a right, privilege, necessity, and at a certain level, a moral and social obligation on behalf of government and business leaders.

There is a strong argument that national education, country here is irrelevant, should be 'free' and open to all interested parties. We know for example that higher education in particular relies on resources both human and financial, and that this is not possible. Where does the funding come from? Who should pay? How much is education worth?

People start asking themselves how can a school such as Harvard or any other top institution consider themselves as a non-profit organization considering the enormous fees to run effectively and efficiently these academic powerhouses. People both inside and outside academia should drop this complex. It is fruitless and a dead end discussion. Let's just accept the fact that any organization should be cost effective, efficient, and provide a seamless service. The education sector is no exception. If you examine the best schools and look at the management, you will see that they are run like machines, but in the best sense of the term.

The answer lies in legal registration sanctioned by governments and regulatory bodies. We accept that academic institutions should have a special legal status for tax reasons because of the activity in question.

There are certain institutions when they are created have themselves set up as 'for profit' legal entities. This path is uncommon because its statute becomes a moral and social question, and we the public look at such places with a different set of eyes.

Another problem inherent in the question is the fact that unlike finance to cite everyone's favourite bug bear due to the recent and continuing uproar on greed, is that education is supposed to be a noble pursuit.

At its best, it is a noble pursuit. Education is a mission.

The sector is supposed to train, educate by broadening people's minds at all levels, by giving us a set of skills, values, code of behaviour, standards, and even friendships across disciplines and fields of interest so that we become active and positive contributors to our communities at large.

Think of the slogan carved out on many facades of the schools:

'Know thy Self'.

This in essence is the true value of education. Mentors across all fields at some level should be showing students how we can accomplish this in addition to gaining technical expertise.

How many of us can truly say, 'I know my Self'? Not many, I am afraid.

For those of us involved with education at whatever level or position, we know that to enter this realm that to work in education must be a passion. Just ask someone who is a teacher, the subject matter is inconsequential as is the level, doctorate or primary school. The response you will receive is 'I love my work. I love sharing my expertise; I love being able to help someone become all that they are capable of being.

Such dedication is admirable and should be fostered. Receiving or delivering 'this' type of education leaves an indelible footprint for the teacher and the student. Education has been and will always be an exchange. The best teachers also act as mentors. Many of us have been influenced by such professionalism, and in turn, when the moment is right used this inspiration to 'teach' someone else, even in business or technical environments.

from Andrew Scharf

Links:
http://www.whitefieldconsulting.com
http://www.mba4success.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewscharf

Twyla Pumroy wrote:

I believe serving the needs of the students is the only business an educator has. However, having said that, having gone to free public school where I was basically left to fend for myself and never mentored in anyway I would rather send my children to a school where I might have to pay for them to get the attention and encouragement they deserve. As a graduate of a state college I maintain the same ideology.... my student loans are only just behind me and I feel very strongly I would have fared better had I attended a school I felt was out of my price range but which I could have gotten into. I think schools have to be able to stay viable in terms of money - but the student has to be certain they are getting their money's worth. It's a complicated question and probably can be answered only individually. I do believe that there are a lot of perks associated even with going to a good career college. If your options open up by attending school, does it really matter if the school is a for profit institution? As long as they are ethical and providing what they promise the school is still improving the quality of life of the student/ graduate.

As for the cost: I paid a great deal of money, much of which I had to borrow, for my State University degree. I did this with a clear plan to get a PhD. When the time came to go to graduate school I could not afford to do so. This was an unfortunate setback for me and my loans were not forgiven because I was not able to go into the profession I had originally intended.

I do think the entire standardized testing issue in public schools has gotten past the point of ridiculous. It is as though the schools are teaching to the tests.

Even at this very basic level the stagnant system has caused education to be a business: everyone is so afraid to just teach. They have to teach to make sure the benchmarks are met in a way that is measurable and any student who can't pass the exams is excluded - one way or another. A public school should not need to sink to the level of running school like a business and fearing the performance reviews of students.
All schools above the regular level of high school in the US are indeed businesses. The only thing I have issues with are those private schools that take the student loan funds of students without providing them with a realistic set of skills to earn a better future. The only thing that comes to mind in this regard are those schools that fall into the realm of beauty academy without a preliminary measure of if the student has what it might take to "make it" in the real world. Of course I have a counter argument for that as well - my hairdresser, who I see more often than I see my doctor, earns more per visit than my very gifted physician does. I do not have insurance and I know what he charges me - and I know all too well what she charges me. There is something to be said for the "business of education" that got her to where she is today.
There is nothing wrong with Education as a Business as long as it is an ethical business with a high standard of performance.

Francis Laleman wrote:
Hello Bushan-ji, Namaskar!

What a perfect gem of a question this is! Thank you so much for inviting us to ponder upon this most exquisite of pahelis.

Or is it a dosukhna? - In which case it brings to mind Amir Khusrau's:

Pandit kyom na nahaayaa?
Dhoban kyom maari gayi?
Dhoti na thi!

Or, one could reformulate the question in a mockery of a kah mukarni:

"It was his business from morning till eve,
it took him the best of himself without leave,
it made him handsomely poor and occasionally rich
was it labour? well nay, it was educational buzz."

It should be quite evident that any truly committed educationist has education as his life's business. By the same token, to be accredited with the title of guru-ji, or acharya-ji, or master-ji or whatever the address may be, is a gift and an honour, bestowed by others, much rather than a self-assigned title on a business card.

The true and effective educationist, therefore, cannot exist unless he has the concept of "sharing" running through his each and every vein - and in order to be able to commit oneself to sharing, there needs to be something to be shared in the first place. For this reason, the true educationist is a continuous seeker, and his business is in the acquisition of skills, competences and attitudes as much as in the sharing of the same.
In this regard, I am thinking of the Buddhist concept of a teacher as a "tathagata", literally "one who has gone there".

Now, depending on the cultural environment in which he lives, the educationist will be esteemed, valued and compensated for his efforts in a variety of ways, ranging from simple feedback and warmly conveyed thanks, to getting a salary, a stipend, or even the settlement of purely invoicable services.
The variety of ways in which the educationist might be compensated, is exquisitely illustrated in the pan-Indian concept of "gurudakshina" - which can be something as simple as touching the guru's feet or offering him a garland of flowers, or an act as extreme and debatable as Ekalavya's, in payment of Dronacharya's unsollicited educational services.

But either way, and however much the educationist, by his very nature, is 'in the business of education', the educationist needs to earn a living, if only in order to be able to keep being an educationist. And responsible for providing the educationist with this means, are first and foremost those who have found profit in whatever it was that the educationist has shared with them. Interestingly, and to illustrate this point, in Satyajit Ray's Mahanagar (1963), the pennyless retired schoolmaster Priyogopal Mazumdar-Da visits his former students on a begging tour, and insists that the money they are asked to give him should not be considered 'financial help', but rather 'payment for done services'.

It goes without saying that those at the receiving end of the educational transaction are responsible for compensation only to the degree of their possibilities and at par with their profits gained from the educational process.

Therefore, ideally, an educationist, who is "in the business of education", should treat "education a business” only on basis of measurable (tangible or intangible, either or both) results, and taking into consideration the degree of prosperity of his clients.

Warm regards,

Francis Laleman
Business Consultant/Trainer/Coach

Links:
http://www.alif-india.com/index.html
http://caravanbpl.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/06/the-eklavya-syndrome.htm
http://www.satyajitray.org/films/mahanag.htm

Brian Curry wrote:
I don't see much difference in the world of private education.

The problem, as I see it, is that the vast majority of people in this world can't afford to be customers / clients.

Dennis Gannon wrote:

I personally feel we are in the business of education because if it is only a business for us then we won't be putting as much of ourselves into it. With some it may be different but that is to each individual.

Celia Baula, PMP wrote:
First of all, education is not obtained only through institutions...

Education came from the word "educere", to lead forth or bring out. I believe that education comes in different forms hence the question about it is a bit misleading. For me, education is the acquisition of knowledge and it is up to the individual whether or not to use the knowledge acquired.

We all go to school/universities to get our degrees/diplomas in the hopes of landing a good-paying job or perhaps to start a business. Whatever the reason, education is the means with which we arm ourselves with information. I know people who went to the top 5 schools in the US and yet end up living with their parents for the rest of their adult lives. Conversely, I have met successful men and women because of their education. I have also met self-education successful people who struggled but in the end succeeded because of their determination to make it to the top.

Is education a business or are we in the business of education? It all depends on how you look at it...

On 3/29/09 5:21 PM, Celia Baula, PMP added the following clarification:
*self-educated

Prikshit Dhanda wrote:
1. Who sweat it out in the classrooms, seminar halls, labs, playgrounds
and give their all to nurture others.
2. Who themselves are not educated but have the means to open
so called Institutions of learning and accumulate wealth.

David Linus wrote:
Good question professor -

lets ask ourselves what education are we looking for -

is it valuable education - or is it education
either of the case you have to have pay for what you receive -

in what proportion you justify; what you pay to what you receive is really the point when the question arises that education is expensive and it is a business -

take the old days -

if you were under the tutelage of a renowned guru your dakhshina too was heavy and lower for lesser known gurus -

it has been a business of exchanging knowledge for something in return - be it money or kind (value of the exchange is what keeps us restless when we have to make that payment :) )

Lincoln said - education is priceless yet free -

it depends how you look at it -

cheers, David
david_linus@hotmail.com
www.successcollege.co.in

Private Note:
Good question professor -

lets ask ourselves what education are we looking for -

is it valuable education - or is it education
either of the case you have to have pay for what you receive -

in what proportion you justify; what you pay to what you receive is really the point when the question arises that education is expensive and it is a business -

take the old days -

if you were under the tutelage of a renowned guru your dakhshina too was heavy and lower for lesser known gurus -

it has been a business of exchanging knowledge for something in return - be it money or kind (value of the exchange is what keeps us restless when we have to make that payment :) )

Lincoln said - education is priceless yet free -

it depends how you look at it -

cheers,

David
david_linus@hotmail.com
www.successcollege.co.in

Daniel Suciu wrote:
I'm not in target ... but I'd ask if would not be (a lot) more relevant to ask the other part... the customers about theirs perception.

I would also suggest that another question could be more relevant "Education is JUST a business for you?" That's the worst case and I feel it's not so far from truth in many cases (With all my apologies for those which are not in this category. I really appreciate the true educators... in any area and at all levels)

Brijesh Shukla wrote:
Dear Prof. Handoo,
I came back to linked discussions after a long time as was busy setting up my operations. When I was going through discussions and came across your questions I had to stop and think and honestly I felt that the answer lies in our approach. For those among us who looks are into education just for a social cause and are not financially inclined might feel that for other education is a business and will try to work for those who cannot afford the education tagged with heavy fee structure whereas the other segment who are charging for their services but providing the best in that fee structure will see themselves as they are in business of education. What will be disturbing is the last category for whom Education is business as they might be the one to maximize profits and charging whatever they can and offer as less as possible and this set of mind frame is the most dangerous for the society. They are the one who are dangerous for not only current but for next generation as well. Till we are in business of Education, people are still being educated but the moment education becomes business for us, the noble intentions and objectives are lost.

Your vast experience ensures me that you will correct me if in case I am wrong in my approach anywhere.

Cheers
Brij

Bahare` Sabeti wrote:
I am not in education in any way, but I am a big critic of what I see in USA as pre college education ( i.e high school, middle school, etc) as someone who has experienced schooling in many countries as well as in US. I think it is a tragedy for a nation with many top universities to bear such horrible schooling system with lack of sufficient mandatory science and math for all in a more nationalized way, just like other nations around a world. Discipline does not exist anywhere in schools of this country and good luck with science and math levels I see my cousins are exposed to, more like what we had in kindergarten, I had finished 6 yrs of intense math ( all kinds), chemistry ( both inorganic and organic), biology ( of all kinds), geology, etc before I moved to US at age 17 already and all of these took place in several countries just to give an example.

shubhranshu agarwal wrote:
As a professional I don’t see nay fault in the business of education but it becomes our duty to impart quality education in return. For the students, education is a business as they build their career in return of working hard while studying.

Salman Khan.....Rocking wrote:
Let us be practical.As far as the scenario in India is concerned Education has become a business & given the current economic situation it is the hottest sector & has not been hit by recession.That is good in one way.But there is a problem.The very basis for which a person pursues education has been lost to commercialisation.So many private institutes have sprung up without any check on the quality or content of the curriculum,unapproved by any regualtory body,with the sole purpose of making money.They are least bothered whether it adds up to the the talent pool of the country or would help the person himself whether in increasing his knowledge or in career advancement.Im appalled by the current situation

John E. Smith wrote:

Hi, Professor Handoo - interesting question.

I believe that my answer to your question has to be "Both".

Those of us who choose to spend our lives teaching and facilitating learning in others should ideally feel a calling to this mission. In that sense, our business is Education. It becomes our reason for working and putting effort into that activity.

However, Education is a business. This means that clear-eyed decisions must be made using proven decision-making models, employees need to be developed and evaluated using clear performance standards, budgets need to be developed and adminstered, and all the rest of what constitutes running a business.

I worked in the non-profit world for a number of years. My organization did very good things for people who needed help and were unable to take care of themselves. This was our business and we felt good about doing it.

However, we also recognized the importance of running our organization as a business. Had we not done so, the organization would not have been able to provide the services. We had a saying "A Christian Heart and A Business Head", which served us well as a reminder that what we did was both a calling and a business - both elements are needed.

John

Permission to use wherever you want, with accreditation

Jay Mehta wrote:

I believe both. General public tend to think idealistically when it comes to education. However, for those who take up the service of imparting education to others as a full time activity, populist thinking defies practicality. Yes, those who are in the "Business of Education" have the right to think of "Education as a Business" as well and that's what most of the private schools and colleges in India all about.

No doubt, while education is a kind of social service, those who are into the business of it have to think in business terms rather then social service since its the question of their survival as well as sustainability. However, the line has to be drawn where there comes a question of making a trade-off between profits and social responsibility an educational organization carries.

While profits are important in the business, thinking only in terms of profits widens the gap between the two sections of the society where the children from the underprivileged section are equally deserving to receive that quality education. While government is responsible to bridge the gap as much as possible, putting the entire burden of bridging the gap on government is also unfair. I believe the concept of education cess of welcome (assuming the money is going in the right direction), it should be implemented at the corporate levels as well with greater cess levied on high profit making institutions especially those who are in the domain of K-12 education.

Subhas C Biswas wrote: When the responsible authorities in Government and society failed to provide education and necessary regulations to control the process, it has been given to the people who are keen to do either of these two

We have both the situations at different places, and luckily they do not co-exist in one place.

One must check the credibility of the institution, faculty, infrastructure, certification/accreditation, performance and feedback of past students for identifying their true intention.

Labels are often fables and claims in advertisements are not always credible enough.