I am for formal education, but, not if it can be replaced by a radio sitting on the table in the place of the lecturer, which could have also been replaced by a youtube video.
The software world moves at reckless speed. Institutions attempt to teach the basics. But, the basics themselves evolve tremendously. Fortunately education is scripted to fulfill industry needs. There is not much need to be proficient if you are going to work for those companies for which the courses have been designed for.
They are boring of course. The most funny thing of all is that to make it at top companies, the basic level of cs education is not enough. Right off the bat, people are unfit for entering these companies. They need some 2, 3 months of job preparation to crack algo rounds. But wait, are you not supposed to be learning algos in cs?
I think there is a great disparity between teaching and the industry. Some institutions attempt to fill this gap by sending students to companies. Sometimes students are left on their own to find their own companies for internships. Are they taught how to look for internships or should they be looking for internships? I mean what are they paying for? I pay to learn at x institution which sends me to learn at z company. z company is considered a nobody, why is x institution not able to impart the knowledge they are being paid to impart?
There is a great deal of learning to be done individually. I won’t be surprised actually if learning at an institution means learning on your own 90% of the time. I’d call it thieving if i did the effort which i am paying to help me with and, i don’t get the credit for. Some institution put their name and take the credit of my work.
The learning materials also are not very interesting. Many great people have clear minds and clear explanations. Not the case with most teaching materials. We don’t need fancy illustrations, but, we do need neat, concise and clear explanations. The materials are of abominable quality, and people who have been sufficiently exposed to abominable quality materials certify that these materials are indeed excellent.
The mass production of industry consumables is bound to quell a lot of curiosity and passion for a topic. There is the rule of demand and supply but, if someone studies a topic in a horrendous manner through which they are disgusted to look deeper beyond job requirements, i see it as an educational failure.