"Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune." — Jim Rohn
I consider education as one of the most profitable business these days. And when there is profit involved, the corruption too prevail in that area. Education sector too does not left behind. Few days ago, I got an offer from a person for securing a seat in prestigious medical colleges in India. He wanted me to look out for some candidate so that they can offer that seat. When I asked about the amount of money to spend to get the allocated seat his quote turned me Blue and Green. INR 70 Lakhs (7 Million) / 77222 USD. The amount is significantly higher considering most of the student belongs from the middle and lower class of the society. However there are many parents who are ready and willing to spend such money to see their kids as Doctor. Learning the amount of money just for getting the seat excluding the other expenses, left me to wonder, if is it worth to spend so much to secure a child career? The question does haunted me for few days before summarizing it here.
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In India, Government aided medical colleges are generally preferred for lower fees and high patient volume, offering superior, diverse clinical exposure. Whereas, Private colleges, while expensive, can offer better infrastructure and more personalized attention. Most of the medical aspirants look together admission in government funded college in India. The limited number of seats at elite medical campuses, combined with the sheer number of highly prepared, top performing candidates, makes admission to medical college one of the most challenging task in India. As per last year estimate, over 20 lakh applicants applied for approximately 41,000 government MBBS seats. The competition is fierce. The ratio of applicants to available seats makes securing a spot incredibly difficult. This is where the corruption pitch in. When the kids unable to find a way to get through the tough procedure, they look out for shortcut making the donation and bribery as the only source to get admission.
Me belonging from a traditional orthodox family, never want to spend so much but instead like to invest them in starting a business opportunity to make the kids do wonder with their choice of works. In India, there are many business opportunity available to sustain longer duration. From opening a food cart, to starting a tea shop to organic farming. The scope of work is huge. Some of the business requires pretty less Investment to begin. And once it started, it does not take long to create a fortune of it. In my opinion, a degree in medical offers stability and a high, predictable income, while entrepreneurship offers unlimited earning potential, autonomy, and higher risk.
MBBS vs Business
A medical degree is a time consuming process. Also it involves enormous amount of money. For a MBBS degree a person requires 4 years undergrad course, followed it up by another 4 years medical schooling, and then 3 to 7 years residency/fellowship. So if a invest 70 lakhs in only securing a seat, the other cost for the next 10-12 years will take my budget close to another 50 Lakhs. The return of which will generate after the kids get into the practice.
On the other side if I even I set up a business for the kid even with 20 % of bribed amount, i can easily start a fully fledged business. The potential to earn significantly more than a doctor if successful, as we can scale our income without a cap. Moreover, we make the decisions, set our own working hours, and control our work environment. Seeing the 3xpensivle nature education degree these days, starting a business sounds much sensible.
If you were in my situation, what would you have opted for - a degree or own business.
In good faith - Peace!!
