Not very pleasant for all of us, South Caucasians, the data was published by the World Intellectual Property Organization: according to its rating, the post-Soviet space occupies rather weak positions in the global innovation index.
But this index determines the level of technical education, the number of patent applications and some other criteria - in other words, how much the education system of a country prepares cadres who can say their weight on the world IT scene. In general, there is absolutely nothing to boast about post-Soviet countries. We have to admit that the South Caucasus republics, apparently, also have something to work on - in particular, Georgia and Azerbaijan have slipped into the 68th and 82nd places of a kind of intellectual table.
How we came to life such It is clear that, like all other ratings, this one is not the ultimate truth, and the data are often erroneous. However, even without the innovation index it is clear: in our countries the culture of technical education is not too high. So it was, by the way, even in Soviet times. Future specialists of high, and any technologies begin with fans to use a soldering iron in their childhood. In this respect, in the 1970s and 1980s, the Caucasus was in a completely different fashion: the local youth, at best, sought to get an education that would allow them to take a good position somewhere in the party's district committee or in countless state structures. Thus, an army of graduates was created without signs of professional knowledge and skills. Hunting for diplomas continues even now, with the only difference being that a formal certificate of professional specialization is often bought. How such specialists in 10-15 years will work on innovations - few people care.
Remember the late Soviet period, what was happening in the schools? Who collected and dismantled tape recorders, soldered something and collected them, thus developing technical thinking? Basically - Russian schoolchildren, while the local people went with their heads raised and proud faces, preparing for a career of party members.
This auknulos already in the period of independence. I remember well that in the 90s programmers in Georgia were continuous. "Russian-speaking", which, unlike the "Georgian-speaking", not only made a choice between the career of a state official and a criminal authority, but also pored over transistors and microcircuits.
It took more than 10 years for the first Georgian IT specialists to appear at last. It was a small, but a real revolution - at last the youth began to part with Soviet habits. Of course, in Soviet times we had our engineers, signalmen and builders, but the problem is that these professions, once highly regarded, eventually lost their prestige and, most insultingly, demand. All for the same reason, which I mentioned at the very beginning of my, as the classic said, "untimely reflections". Mostly this was the fate of those who came from poor rural families, for whom the opportunity to work at a factory in a big city was a promising activity.
However, because of the limitations of the Soviet economy and the lack of competition, our engineering and technical intelligentsia has been very poorly developed, and by the end of the USSR's existence, it was hopelessly behind the world standards.
And then, do not forget that the niche of technical specialists was largely occupied by the same Russian-speaking people - who several years earlier were fond of soldering iron and reading the journal "Technique of Youth".
Traditions live!.
Do you remember this famous slogan? !! Let's remember how only some 15-20 years ago, when the Caucasians were talking about a teenager or a child, "he is such a talented boy" - what was meant? And then, how glorious was the Caucasus and without socialism: the boy sang well, danced, recited poems, drew.
And the one who easily broke off with complex equations - well, "a good boy, he has certain makings in mathematics". Just.
All this could not lead to a different result than the one we have today. Parents did not surround their children with love - a warm party cabinet is more attractive than the factory entrance. Where, then, after such a tradition do technicians get to work?.
Unfortunately, the current priorities of education remain practically the same - many graduates of high-flying faculties like "management and marketing" and "international diplomacy", and good, high-quality welders have to be invited from Turkey. Propensity for humanitarian education gradually creates problems for our countries: against the background of high unemployment there is a shortage of specialists in specific professions, and this is quite a serious problem that has already straightened before the Caucasians in full growth.
The skewed slightly decreased due to the fact that the newly made "international diplomats" and "top managers" have been wiping their pants for years, mumbling without work, telling everyone about the two diplomas in succession and that "in our time, true professionals are not appreciated". After that many or choose less pathos specialties, or prefer to wait without the end of the holiday on their street. However, this, by and large, does not make the weather for today, since the creation of a caste of highly professional specialists in the exact sciences and technical disciplines is a very long, troublesome and expensive. And most importantly, it requires a sharp change in mentality, and this is not at all easier than with everything else.
Want ... rebels Inventors, scientists, serious techies appear only in a society that tolerates white ravens. An indispensable requirement for the formation of such a personality is a willingness to go against the rules, a rebellious beginning in the character. And the willingness of society to treat this with understanding. If you see a 17-year-old teenager, who speaks for a long time and enthusiastically about the "heritage of ancestors", about "our great traditions", about "grandmothers and grandfathers", about faith and religion, you can be sure that nothing breakthrough and interesting in life is Will create.
Simply because in his early 17 years he has not yet emerged from the traditions and habits of the past. One of these features is the once and for all learned rule that all sorts of experiments, attempts to swim against the current are heresy and "rejection of national identity".
Steve Jobs walked barefoot at the university, and no one paid any attention to it. Just imagine a student of the Tbilisi or Baku University who walks barefoot for a minute? You can not? Of course ... That's why we do not have Jobs, but we are full of middles, able to pronounce toasts and slogans.
One of my friends once said: "I'm waiting for the times when our students will go to the university by bicycle". Yes, in the best western universities students ride bicycles, we have with you - mostly on BMWs bought by dads. Of course, there is no direct connection between these phenomena, as there is no tangible reason why a student who has come to a university in a BMW can not become a cool programmer or a nuclear physicist.
However, despite this, life has repeatedly shown us and continues to show: revolutionaries never become those who at 20 years own a high-class car, those who are satisfied with life, who do not need anything in life to change.
Steve Jobs's slogan "Stay Hungry" is the main secret of the lack of big technical and scientific breakthroughs in our region. Nobody wants to be hungry. Few people are ready to be a white crow, and the society of white crows only 15-20 years ago beat in corridors and back streets - only in recent years they began to be treated calmly, but seriously still do not perceive.
Sometimes the connections between different phenomena do not arise where they are being sought - you can talk endlessly about the need to reform the education system, but while our students go to the university on BMW - we do not see high places in the innovation index.
In short, do you want your Bill Gates and Ilona Masks to grow? Teach your children to swim against the current and go to the university by bicycle - then, maybe something will turn out.
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