A viral LinkedIn post by Scandalous Foods founder Sanket S has started a national conversation about India's education-to-employment pipeline. Having employed three graduates from India's best private colleges—each of whom had invested ₹40–50 lakh in courses in MBA, hospitalit...
A viral LinkedIn post by Scandalous Foods founder Sanket S has started a national conversation about India's education-to-employment pipeline. Having employed three graduates from India's best private colleges—each of whom had invested ₹40–50 lakh in courses in MBA, hospitality, or technology—Sanket was disheartened by their lack of ability to perform practical work.
Key Takeaways from the Founder's Frustration
The MBA graduate was unable to explain basic accounting terms like profit and loss or cash flow.
The hospitality student never saw a food processing line.
The graduate in food technology was not aware of precision fermentation, the core process in the startup's business.
Their single great skill? Presenting PowerPoint slides—something now easily accomplished by software like Gemini or ChatGPT in a matter of seconds.
A Systemic Talent Crisis
Sanket's tweet resonated with most founders who echoed the same experience, labeling it as a symptom of a failed education system and not due to incompetence.
India's top schools, critics contend, focus on outdated curricula and memorization by rote, poorly preparing their graduates for rapidly changing, innovation-driven industries.
The startup dilemma: spend time and money retraining local recruits or hire abroad and risk destroying the 'Make in India' dream.
Demand for Reform
The post has rekindled calls for a bottom-up overhaul of India's education system, especially for new industries like food tech, biotech, and climate tech.
There are indeed demands for a more dedicated STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) strategy to bridge the divide between theory in the academy and industry requirements.
Sources: The Economic Times, Business Today, Storypick.