The vacuum in the Industry-Academia Relationship

Why do we go to school? Why do we follow it up with college? What is the purpose of Education?It is obvious that most of us go to college to get a degree which will act as a launchpad to kick start a career. And when we enter the Industry, does the knowledge we gain (assuming we did manage to attend classes amidst our busy schedules) in college really help? The answer is an instant NO.

This is especially true in the IT Industry, where freshers have to be trained anyway to be made employable. If this is the case, then what is the use of spending four years in college learning concepts which might never quite serve any purpose in our lives?

Every year thousands of fresh graduates are flooding the Indian IT scene, yet one does not find any conscious effort made by IT companies to explain to students (still in college) what is exactly taking place inside an IT company. Wouldn't it make the job of a youngster easier if he were informed of what exactly he would be working on and how he would need to work in the company, while he is still in college?

Of course, there are companies which tie up with top colleges to hire fresh talent as a complete bundle but are they doing enough justice to their relationship with the institution which agrees to cooperate just because there is the slightest chance of improving the industry academia relationship? One interesting aspect of this relationship is the workshops conducted by the companies which surprisingly are conducted almost always by people from the HR domain. Wouldn't the students be better served if they were to attend workshops conducted by people from the Technical domain who can tell them how they fit into the company and what exactly is expected out of them by the Industry? In this way, the students can better prepare themselves for the industry and know what to expect from a job in the IT domain.