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The policy-behemoth of 2020, the NEP, has begun to seep into the cogwheels of the state machinery, and an ugly picture now stands before us. Has the NEP oiled the machine or soiled it?

With its first major revision since 1986, the New Education Policy of India (NEP), cradling promises to remedy the fractured education system and its often dysfunctional multiplicity of boards, targeted skill-sets and examination protocols, has finally started to lose moss as it roars down the steep slope of universities and schools dotting the Indian landscape alike, and needless to say, it poses the threat to obliterate the status-quo hitherto observed. The question remains whether an overhaul of such prodigious proportions should be a welcome change. Do Indian institutions, and in fact, the institute that is India itself, possess the capacity to contain it and not crumble in the process? Perhaps a fortification is imperative. Have we given the political and academic structures adequate time to recalibrate and fortify themselves in order to welcome the change?

Indeed, having to model the Indian paradigm of education after the Americans presents appealing prospects to those who wish to pursue their higher education abroad. Statistically, we must determine how much of the student population that truly represents. One need not resort to the numbers, however, to infer that it must not constitute a generous portion of the Indian-student demographic. A disparate wealth distribution in the Indian economy continues to persist, consequently shutting a devastating majority of the population out from access to foreign lands. Education in the UK and the US for just one year is almost as expensive as an Indian’s kidney, if one were to pardon the conceit. Within India itself, private universities cost as much over the course of four years. We may safely say that the structure under the NEP, benefits only a microscopic percentage of Indian students. Simultaneously, it insinuates certain cultural and ideological conflicts.

Of course, change is daunting, abrasive at times. I desire to direct our attention to the realised change therefore; that is where the NEP stands, four years after its conception and more than a year after it having been implemented. Lying beyond the theoretical assent and dissent, how has the change shaped itself in practice?

The syllabi structured under the NEP have introduced subjects such as GE (Generic Elective), SEC (Skill Enhancement Course), VAC (Value Added Course), AEC (Ability Enhancement Course) with the respective departments offering choices from a pool of courses. Some of these courses such as “The Art of Being Happy” may be taught by professors of any and all departments! The obverse side of the coin parades this as ‘holistic development’ that should buttress an individual’s employability. The reverse, practical side of this coin reveals a diluted core syllabus and therein the concomitant and ironic risk of a half-baked education. Can subjects such as ‘Sports for Life’ or ‘Personality Development’ substantially better the depth of a student’s learning, especially at the University level, where courses are supposed to be rather rigorous and demanding?

Professor Debraj Mookerjee, Associate Professor of English at Ramjas College, reflecting on the Economics Honours syllabus for St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata, says,

Of the eight courses being taught, only one is in the Honours subject paper…are the students learning enough about the core subjects to make them optimally employable? Can the other subjects not be self-learnt in the age of the internet?

A 3rd Year English Honours Student at the University of Delhi, Pema Choekyi Thongdok, in conversation with DU Beat, echoes the same concern

Also, while one may argue that papers like yoga, sports, etc. do help in extra-curricular development, I still believe that this should be the choice of the student. A student should not be forced to study a whole new paper, simply in the name of “holistic development”, if it wouldn’t even be of any help to them in the future.

A critically upsetting point that Pema raises is that these subjects, with the exception of the GE courses, may not be repeated after one semester of having studied it. How does one fathom the idea of learning a subject well enough within the span of four months, with six other such courses to cater to, including 3 core papers, to find any practical or academic use for it later in life? If the practical use is eliminated entirely, an academic use is tenuously possible. Even in that scenario, additional rigorous research must be done to develop a scholarly understanding of the topic in the first place. This research shall only be the qualifying pre-requisite and no more.

Highlighting another pitfall of this system, Shivam Bhanushali, Assistant Professor of English, B.N.N College ventures,

The policy’s emphasis on student choice in subject selection is commendable. However, large class sizes and an uneven teacher-student ratio make it difficult to offer diverse options. This can lead to schools prioritising feasibility over student preferences, potentially hindering the policy’s objective.

The cause behind such a butchered syllabus coupled with an equally ignominious execution may be ascribed to the inadequate workforce in terms of, on one hand, administrative sections that must be reconditioned to accommodate the changes in the dealings with students and a largely under-equipped faculty.

Many of the universities are facing problems because they do not have the manpower required for proper implementation. This programme has many sub-sections like value-added and skill-based courses. If institutes want to offer these courses, they need to have proper departments in the university.

says Professor Imankalyan Lahiri, Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University.

Taking this argument further, Priyanka Mukherjee, third year journalism student at Delhi College of Arts and Commerce laments

NEP, while it boasts of introducing “practical aspects” into the syllabus, doesn’t take into account that several DU colleges lack the basic infrastructure to even accommodate a media lab in their premises.

In the recent fee hike at JNU and DU postgraduate and doctorate programmes, one of the contentions seemed to be a constantly failing infrastructure that did not reflect or justify the increased fees. If colleges were not being able to handle infrastructural demands even before the NEP was implemented, it is only natural for a massive bottleneck to have been birthed in the wake of NEP’s structural reform demands. For instance, one of the AEC papers offered under the NEP syllabus is “Environmental Science – Theory Into Practice”. As an unfortunate victim of the NEP myself, I may assuredly proclaim that there was nothing generally practical about the course structure exempting the practical waste of my precious time as an honours student. The “practicals” prescribed in the syllabus decreed the making of a practical file, with an arbitrary number of experiments left to the discretion of the teacher responsible for teaching it and a viva-voce at the end of the semester. I trust you have understood that there were no opportunities created for us that warranted leaving the four-walls of the classroom or our living accommodations. Unless I am practically delirious, it bothers me that there are no realised practical, or hands-on aspects to courses that purport to be largely practical.

Under the NEP, one may skip completely their Master’s and appear for the UGC-NET provided they can meet the criteria of a “minimum of 75% marks or equivalent grades in their four-year undergraduate course”. Additionally, the UGC has already scrapped the M.Phil degree entirely. Commenting on this, Professor Saswata Bhattacharya, Associate Professor of English at Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi, in conversation with Times of India, says,

The 4th year requires a student to acquaint themselves with research methodology and research work. The papers that they have, were previously a part of M.Phil courses, let alone M.A. Speaking of their M.A. courses, which they may now skip, they have a one year programme with not more than 8-10 papers. We had a minimum of 12-16. The length of their M.A courses have been effectively halved. I can vouch for the paramount importance of a two-year course for their M.A. Students who have been introduced to a specialised discipline only recently, and have been studying it for not more than 3-4 years, will find themselves severely ill-suited for serious research. In fact, a 2 year M.Phil course after their master’s helps bridge the large gap in the nature and workload between a Master’s and PhD course.

The hoped expedite is not so much an expedition as it is a hindrance; the process leaves students insufficiently armed and unable to ease into the succeeding steps of their lives. Professor Biswajit Mohanty exposes a dangerous area of quicksand in the exit policy of the NEP undergraduate programmes.

The exit policy is clearly disadvantageous for the underclass category students because it is easy to exit and difficult to gain re-entry into the system, considering the fact that the poor students would find it burdensome to expend energy and financial resources for four years to get the desired degree. Earlier three years seemed achievable but it seems a distant goal for them. This has manifested in the form of one of my students from Rajasthan now contemplating a move to SOL as he cannot afford to study in Delhi because of his family’s financial situation. This will also be disadvantageous for girls, as they would be the first to be taken out of school.

Certainly, given the India now, in an attempt to dig new pathways, the NEP has run the drills under whole residential areas without relocating the inhabitants. It has done so under the influence of a flimsy vision and a threadbare execution. The damage control has been pitiful because it lacks the work-force and the resources to acquire said workforce. In simple words, India is not ready to so radicalise its educational wireframe. It is not simply the universities that have failed, but the government responsible for funding them. “It is, however, not a big surprise that the present government has implemented yet another ambitious policy without taking into account the ground-reality of our academic institutions.” concludes Priyanka. While the students suffer from not having been eased into degrees in a rush to acquire them, the academic institutions suffer from not having been eased into the NEP. One cannot deny the NEP’s transformative capacity. However, a ceramic bowl cannot contain oversized bricks. There is hope for the NEP, but the damage done to the first batches in its inchoate stages seems irremediable.

Featured Image Credits : The Times Of India Website

Aayudh Pramanik

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The Clock is Ticking for India’s Education System, What’s Next?

By DU Beat June 29, 2024

In the aftermath of the Lok Sabha Elections, the nation stands shook by the NEET and UGC-NET paper leaks. Besides, privatisation of public education and saffronisation of the curriculum were major issues that were raised recurrently throughout the decade. While the present diaspora signals towards a supposedly balanced Lok Sabha with the Opposition winning close to majority seats, is there any positive hope for the future of public education in India?

June 4, 2024, allegedly invited a new ray of hope for Indian democracy. Netizens chanted, ‘Democracy is back!’, the opposition rejoiced with a near majority, and a sliver ray of hope was projected for the upcoming 5 years. Studio-pandits dominated television screens with their expertise upon a more balanced parliamentary representation- with the INDIA Alliance thundering at nearly 230 seats, and the Congress owning 99 of them. ‘A balanced Parliament will keep the Modi Goliath in check’, was the unanimous declaration. ‘Economic measures will be balanced out further with GST in check!’, ‘Hindutva politics will be in check!’, ‘The Constitution is safe and it will be hard to pass the UCC (Uniform Civil Code) with a strong opposition!’, Twitteratis declared.

However, through all the discussions about the potential action-plan of ‘Modi 3.0’, there was one particular sector that was left out- Public Education, the same ministry that is now facing major hit-backs 15 days into ‘Modi 3.0’.

On June 24, as the 18th Lok Sabha launched its functioning, Opposition ministers were witnessed to chant ‘NEET! Shame!’ as the Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, walked towards the podium to undertake his oath for the newly-formed Government. While student protests asking for ‘RE-NEET’ and a CBI probe into the paper leak overtook the streets of New Delhi and across India, the future of 24 lakh medical aspirants lies uncertain in the hands of a government averse to the concerns of national education previously.

When it comes to the Modi report card in terms of public education in India, the sector has undergone significant tinkering in terms of rewriting NCERT textbooks and introduction of the National Education Policy 2020; the government has failed to look into the administrative and managerial failures to implement such measures and policies within most government-run schools. With rising summer temperatures across the subcontinent and the atrocity of climate change, the education sector is on the verge of suffering yet another setback- potential dropouts and absenteeism by students due to lack of air-conditioning or functional fans in government-run schools and colleges giving rise to miserable environments which are not conducive for learning. An instance worth mentioning is the May-term examinations conducted by Delhi University amidst scorching 50 degrees Celsius.

When it comes to investment in public education, the government’s ambitious National Education Policy promised a whopping 6% of GDP by 2020. However, as per a report by Scroll.in, expenditure pertaining to education counts at 2.8% of GDP in 2019-20, and a marginal increase to 3.1% in 2022. Contrastingly, the BJP’s 2014 manifesto claimed that, “investment in education yields the best dividend.” However, the ruling party’s words have hardly aligned with their actions. Another report by Scroll.in draws upon the comparison that between 2004-24, the Congress-led Union Government invested nearly 0.61% of the GDP annually towards education. On the other hand, between 2014-24, the number significantly reduced to 0.44% of the GDP annually.

Simultaneously, the National Education Policy of 2020, introduced by the Modi government has also faced several criticisms. Several critics, student activists from the left-bloc and academicians claim that NEP has fuelled the privatisation of public education through exorbitant fee hikes, which makes it less inclusive for the economically-marginalized. Numerous exit options open doors for candidates to drop out of college much more easily. While NEP aims towards digital enhancement of classrooms- several academic institutions in India lack basic infrastructure to implement the same- several schools and colleges even lack facilities like proper hygienic washrooms and water-filters.

Under the guise of “syllabus rationalisation”, the country has witnessed its school textbooks being rewritten, its history reshaped to give birth to a ‘monocultural narrative’ at the expense of India’s multiculturalism. While school textbooks are crucial for the construction of a ‘civilizational memory’, underfunding and budget cuts in public schools hamper the development of human capital and the long-term growth of the nation.

Since 2017, the NCERT has undergone significant changes in its curriculum, all of which were passed against a weak-opposition in the House. Several instances such as the exclusion of the Mughal era from Class 12 history textbooks, removal of texts on the caste system, social movements, brief ban of the RSS post-independence and Gandhi’s unpopularity with Hindu extremists, were observed in 2022. Furthermore, in 2023, Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution was excluded from the curriculum as well.

Post the Lok Sabha election of 2024, the NCERT took another move towards removing any mentions of the Babri Masjid and swapped it with the phrase, “three-domed structure”. Such omissions in the curriculum were justified with fervour by BJP MPs later.

In 2022, BJP leader, Kapil Mishra explained the exclusion of the Mughal era from the syllabus alleging that “thieves” were referred to as the “Mughal rulers” and this initiative of reshaping the curriculum will “shine light on the truth.” Similarly, on being questioned about the removal of the mention of the Babri Masjid from textbooks, NCERT Director, Dinesh Prasad opines that, “teaching about riots in school textbooks can create violent, depressed citizens.” On the other hand, several critics and netizens claim that reshaping historical narratives is a convenient way to “whitewash the Ayodhya dispute.” However, it is not difficult to point out that the changes undergone by the NCERT in recent years reflect a strong saffronized stance- an alleged BJP-led government move to eliminate text that challenges the Hindutva worldview.

While curriculum-reshaping and a lack of basic infrastructure hamper public schools in the country, the BJP manifesto had promised to bridge the digital divide persisting within the country. The online-education era propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic showed that students had scant access to digital devices and the internet. Moreover, the pandemic-era led to major learning losses that are yet to be addressed.

The Modi government has not fared well through the decade when it comes to funding higher-education institutions as well. The Government changed the mode of financing from grants to loans for such institutions, which consequently caused central institutions struggle to repay loans and in turn pressurise their administration to increase fees or compromise upon other aspects of education. The BJP-majority government also rolled out a scheme to identify 50 ‘Institutes of Eminence’ by 2019 and develop them into world-class universities. However, the said-scheme has slobbered and only 20 institutions have been identified till now.

When it comes to affirmative action, the government introduced a 10% reservation for economically-backward classes and directed public institutions to increase their seats for the same. However, several institutions lacked classroom infrastructure to intake students above the usual capacity. Casteism runs rampant to this day on academic campuses. In December 2023, the Education Minister replied to a question in the Lok Sabha that, “In the preceding five years, 2622 STs, 2424 SCs, and 4596 OBC students dropped out of central universities.” This paints an ugly picture of the caste discrimination that bleeds through the country even today.

Moreover, in another attack on minorities, the government withdrew the Maulana Azad Fellowship for Muslim students and even excluded students from humanities background from the National Overseas Scholarship intended for students from marginalized backgrounds.

Besides, the education domain from 2014-24 witnessed the maximum number of student protests- with student political parties and youth wings like AISA, SFI, and NSUI holding rallies and marches against the Gaza War, Saffronisation, NEP, fee hikes, and hostel infrastructure for women, to ABVP joining protests related to the NEET 2024 paper leak.

Out of the endless issues that have been raised with the Modi Government’s decade of “revamping Indian education,” the most pertinent of these remains the display of religiosity in otherwise secular campus spaces. From the Hijab ban that proved to be a litmus test for democratic secular values to the Ayodhya Consecration ceremony that was widely celebrated with ‘hawans’ and ‘bhandaras’ across academic institutions, there have been monocultural biases when it comes to regulations upon displays of religiosity within learning spaces. This needs the state to create a healthy balance between the sanctity of secular educational spaces and the individual right to religious expression. However, with the widespread saffronisation of education across the country, rewriting textbooks and faculty displacements, the BJP’s attack on public education reflects an ethno-cultural majoritarian election agenda.

Moreover, several attempts have been made to document mass-faculty displacements in public colleges, with highly-qualified teachers being fired despite years of experience due to ideological and other pertinent differences; the faculty displacement within the Sociology department of IPCW in 2023 and Ramjas’ English Department in the same year are noteworthy instances. This has led to widespread agitation amongst students who were afraid to speak out amidst stringent suppressive measures taken by the administration of the respective colleges.

While the administrative, managerial and intellectual architecture of the Indian education system is being rapidly eroded by aggressive saffron policies, one can only hope that a healthy Opposition granted by the 18th Lok Sabha elections can voice the concerns of the students. Meanwhile, the NEET-fiasco has dug out the deeply disturbed state of testing agencies and the ignorance of the education ministry to preserve the sanctity of public education.

In such circumstances, one can only hope student protests aren’t curbed, the sanctity of investigation bureaus is maintained and opposing voices are respected within the state as a crucial part of the democratic mechanism rather than being equated with the ‘anti-national’ tag. India’s public education system is a ticking time-bomb. It is only a matter of time before it explodes and rubs out the sanctity of what we call India itself.

Featured Image Credits: Cartoonist Satish Acharya

Priyanka Mukherjee

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Schools: The Breeding Grounds of Unquestioned Discipline

By DU Beat December 25, 2019

Think about your favourite teacher, first best friend, first crush, sharing tiffin boxes, the class getting up and chanting “good morning teacher”, bells ringing and copies closing in unison. Nostalgic, right?

School inevitably leads one to “memory avenue” where one cannot help but wander. With the Semester-End Examination bidding farewell, the WhatsApp groups flood with reunion plans. But there exists a bitter side, a side that is an underlying decay, decay that cannot be ignored.

School instils fear in the hearts of students. The adrenalin rush at the fear of not knowing an answer turns out to be a baseless tremor, as one looks back at past. Eventually, this fear becomes a part of one’s system and the default setting of thinking more and speaking fewer sets in. How many times did you know the answer, had a doubt or an opinion but could not raise your hand? Did this resurface in your adulthood? Let that thought sink in…..

“I remember I was in seventh when our teachers segregated us on the basis of the length of our kurtas. We were very young hence, we actually started feeling guilty.”

The length of a kurta, the length of a skirt, the magnitude of the narrowness of one’s pants, the crime of rolling up one’s sleeves seem to be the only parameters which exist to judge students and categorize them into “good” and “undisciplined”. This plight continues like the not-so-famous process of “unnatural selection”, we assume that Darwin hangs his head down at the thought of it. The stages of categorization continue till an alpha being is found who is used as the ideal specimen to which others are advised to “look up to”. “Look at him, try to be like him” they say. Eventually, one tries to follow, as a result, the coping mechanism changes to copying mechanism and a school changes into a mass production unit.

The garden never claimed the roses to be the most beautiful. The flowerpots never told the periwinkles to be like lilies, the soil never told the weed to act like grass.

Students learn to follow, follow their teachers, follow elders, and follow what the book says. No one teaches the act of resistance, the act of questioning is a forbidden fact because apparently, questions do not come as six markers in papers. They never let one ask why but expect an explanation in your diary note.

Schools hollow out the capacity to have opinions. The glass is always half full and schools half-heartedly open horizons to fit in critical thinking. Agitation and resistance are Greek words until one enters college, where every voice matters, where every act of dissent is not reduced to rootless rebellion.

“I’d be concerned about a behaviour policy that focuses on punishing students for what they are getting wrong rather than asking the broader question of why they are behaving in a particular way. Our school’s motto is “live adventurously”…… we encourage individuals to think for themselves and explore and question- that’s fundamental to education”, Iain Kilpatrick, head-teacher, Sidcot School, Somerset.

A democratic classroom is a farfetched dream which only some seem to savour. A place where questions are asked, opinions are accepted and sticks are spared is much due. The existing training for slavery should be replaced by the empowerment of future leaders. Dawn is yet to come.

Feature Image Credits: Gyanarjun Saroj for DU Beat

Priyanshi Banerjee

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Why Don’t Students Get Jobs?

By Shivani Dadhwal December 12, 2019

This piece aims to answer the following questions- do these courses guarantee a job? What’s the reason behind so many students not finding a decent job? What is the merit of these long, hard years of education?

In the Indian education system, the success of the education imparted is measured by the size of the package, and in the Indian society the prestige of a person is as big as their cabinet. This desire has set a generalised pattern for all, and it uplifts those courses that guarantee job placement. Hence, 9,35,741 students appeared for the JEE MAINS this year or why children are often pressurised by their parents to take Science, because “kaafi scope hai na.”

Students face tremendous pressure to first get extraordinary great marks to beat the cut-offs, then do extremely well in their entrances for their masters or carry the enormous burden of their undergraduate just for landing a job. Each level of education is just a steppingstone to a job. Yet, we face one of the biggest unemployment challenges ever. How can a system which has made children as young as twelve internalise the need for a good job, fail at that same thing?

As per United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), over half of the Indian students will not be eligible for 21st Century jobs and here are few reasons for it:

1. Increased competition

The days when college was only accessible to the rich and elite are over. College has become more affordable and much more competitive. This happens due to the wave of the popular profession. In the 1980s, Law was considered the profession that gets students a job, in the 1990s it was replaced by civil services and medical practice. In the 2000s, Engineering took off and now it is Chartered Accountancy. The result?

A record number of college applications across the nation, resulting in more college graduates, and thus, more competition for the limited number of jobs available on the market.

The secondary effect of this is that the days when having a degree alone would get you a job are over. The “prestige” that comes with having a degree has now become diluted with the rampant number of students graduating in that highly concentrated field.

2. Little or no work experience

This about the student’s famous catch 22 position. This situation arises when they have no job experience, yet all the jobs out there require it if you want to apply. So, they can’t get a job because they have no experience and in order to get a job, they need a job for work experience, but they can’t get a job without work experience and the cycle viciously continues.

One way to get out of this cycle is to not pass up on jobs that you may think are beneath you. Swallow your pride and take those jobs or intern for free at a company you would like to work at. Always keep in mind that jobs can lead to other jobs.

3. Lack of networking

Many people get jobs through referrals. Statistics show this is how a majority of people get their jobs. The reason why word of mouth is so effective is that it cuts through all the worry of whether, or not, this person can do the job.

If somebody has been working for a company for some time, then that employee knows what it takes to succeed, and if that employee knows somebody who can do it, it’s an easy fit. The employer will trust the employee referring the new candidate and the new candidate will most likely get the job.

4.The age-old syllabus

It’s very likely that if you do the same course as your parents, the syllabus covered by both of you would be the same. So much so, that even the books would be the same despite the rampant technology growth. There’s a huge difference between the job that students want, and the course taught to them. Their course even lacks the skills required to handle 21st Century jobs. Hence, the conventional pattern never breaks.

5.Lack of personal and social skills

The biggest myth is that a degree guarantees a job, however in many cases, students have landed jobs due to their great interview skills or lifted attitude. But those skills are never taught, let alone talked about. As per a study conducted by BridgeLabz, more than one-third of the engineering students were non-employable and the biggest reason for it was lack of self-confidence. In India, as many as fifty three percent will leave secondary school without getting the skills needed for a decent job.

India, in particular, has to worry about its current and future unemployment too. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), its unemployment rate stood at 8.45 percent. As more sectors fall into the throes of the ongoing slowdown, like auto, followed by telecom and IT, joblessness is all set to rise. Three major technology giants, Capgemini, Infosys, and Cognizant are cutting as many as five hundred senior-level jobs. Further, the future of as many as one lakh employees of BSNL’s vendors are in limbo, as the telecom operator is yet to pay 200 billion INR in dues.

There is no doubt, that the education system is flawed, there is a much greater emphasis on marks than practicality. And it is evident, that a dire change is how students approach higher education is required but the dreading economy doesn’t help their case either.

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Chhavi Bahmba

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Movies for Motivation: Movies That Inspire You to Study

By Shivani Dadhwal November 21, 2019

With exams just around the corner, this piece is an aim to inspire you to study on of your off days where you’ve given up on your books and just need a break. Hopefully, these movies will motivate you more than Sandeep Maheshwari.

Films have been long overlooked as an educational tool. Cinema is just an anecdote of the literature of the world. We tend to forget that what often spurs the imagination is both visual and auditory. For many of us, watching movies is an escape. After 5 hours of comprehending the political theory, even Kuch Kuch Hota Hai acts as a relief. The power of cinema is boundless. Movies on this list have all one thing in common, value for education and not a conventional way to prove it. Thus, making them great breaks between your study sessions. And more than that, great tools to uncover your hidden love for art and knowledge.

Take a journey with these lead characters that will provoke you to take a journey with your books. These movies will motivate you not just for these exams but will act as a reminder of how education isn’t just for a degree.

Freedom Writers:

Freedom Writers is a frank and formulaic entry in the inspirational inner-city teacher genre, with an energetic Hilary Swank. It’s an inspiring drama that touches on many themes of power, violence, and casteism. Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) arrives for her first day of teaching at Wilson High, a school which once was at pinnacle of academic performance now is filled with underprivileged students who use drugs, live on streets where people are killed regularly and have even served time in prison. Erin’s commitment to transforming her students by writing and reading is what is inspirational of all. This doesn’t just celebrate great teachers but the unity that arises out of diversity once all walls of discrimination are broken.

Dead Poets Society:

There are some films that, if you watch then for the first time at the right age, have the capacity to inspire and embolden you: Dead Poets Society is one such film. Its uncynical, idealistic and hopeful making it not resonate with film snobs, but what it lacks in critical kudos, it has recouped in audience appreciation. Robin Williams is on top form as the iconoclastic John Keating, the unconventional English teacher who uses his love of poetry and classic literature to break down barriers at the oppressive Welton Academy. Keating inspires his young charges to ‘seize the day’, challenge the school’s strict rules, and truly be themselves. The film is packed with emotionally-charged, touching scenes but the one that won’t fail to make the hairs on your arm stand up is this one where Keating’s students demonstrate what he means to them – “Oh Captain, My Captain…”

The Pursuit of Happiness:

It’s a magnificent real-life tale that teaches you to not give up, irrespective of whatever happens. The perfect elixir you need when you have to do the entire syllabus in one week. Never miss an opportunity and studying hard, after a few years, Chris works his way up the career ladder from medical equipment salesman to financial hotshot. If there’s one story that demonstrates that you should never give up, no matter how bad things get, it’s Chris’.

Good Will Hunting:

Matt Damon masterfully plays the eponymous role of Will Hunting a 20-year-old mathematical prodigy with a rough past, a tendency for street fighting and run-ins with the law. The film shows how an underachiever can turn things around. People who have always had problems with focus and concentration this one is for you. This movie familiarises you with the concept of heartbreak. The heartbreak one feels when appreciating a true genius but to fall short of it yourself. The film stars Matt Damon as a janitor at MIT who likes to party and hang in the old neighbourhood and loves reading things of the Internet and imbibe them into his photographic memory. Even though it follows a predictable narrative arc, Good Will Hunting adds enough quirks to the journey and is loaded with enough powerful performances that it remains an entertaining and emotionally rich drama.

School of Rock:

In this movie, the irrepressible Jack Black plays a down-on-his-luck musician who makes use of a combination of creative interview techniques, Led Zeppelin riffs, crazy love for music, and a ridiculous amount of ‘winging it’ to transform a class of upper-class unhappy kids into a real group of tiny rock Gods. While the movie was never going to challenge for the Best Picture Oscar, it’s a fantastic off-beat example of how education can inspire really positive change amongst the most unlikely looking people.

Stand and Deliver:

Another inspirational film made for those who might not be able to concentrate cause of family troubles, societal troubles and other out of hand issues. This movie leads a powerful narrative of how that academic success is not out of reach just because of their background or their current struggles. The story demonstrates the possibilities open to anyone no matter what they may have been told in the past. With Ramon Menendez as the director, the film is much less clichéd than La Bamba.

Sister Act 2:

Back in the Habit: A nun reprises her role in the music scene by joining a Catholic school’s mission to take their choir further in the state championships. The lesson in this film is that any student can find their place with the right encouragement. And if you don’t grove to the songs and if they don’t stick to your head while attempting your exams, you may take a box of Ferrero Rocher from my house.

Featured Image Credits: Vulture

Chhavi Bahmba

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Problems That Plague the Current Examination System

By Kinjal Pandey November 27, 2017

With exam season around the corner, most of us are hassled, worried, and over-worked. As we work over previous years’ question papers, guides and reference books, resentment for the current examination system, which values rote-learning over knowledge emerges from within.

It is the month of November, which in Delhi University and across the country means end-semester examinations. And as students all across mug up facts and numbers, drink endless cups of coffee and pull all-nighters and neglect their physical, mental and emotional health over an examination, we experience a strong sense of disappointment over the current examination system that reduces our value to a number.

The current examination system has quantified knowledge and has attempted to make intelligence and proficiency more measurable. As a consequence, the number that is aimed to signify our proficiency in a particular subject- say marks, percentage, or Semester Grade Point Average (SGPA) has now become the end-goal. Marks are not a marker of what we have learned the whole semester; it is now the end result. The desire to know more and our curiosity and creativity have died in this quest to score more.

But quantifying learning is not the biggest problem that the examination system has given birth to. The problem with the examination system is that it is part of a system. By methodically creating a process which shall evaluate and determine the worth and capabilities of students and their learning, a specific structure/pattern has been created that ought to be followed and respected. As a consequence, students take the pressure of scoring certain marks and working tirelessly to achieve a particular result. Consequently, the focus of education has shifted, from innovation and learning to score. Students in college are under the pressure to maintain their scores rather than thinking of creative ways to expand their horizons of knowledge.

The problem with creating a system is that there will always be people who will think of ways to cheat the system. In the context of students, this refers to students who do not read the prescribed and suggested text and readings but instead prepare specific questions and notes that will help them sail through the exams. These “hacks” so to speak, of evading the exhaustive process of going through the entire syllabus is used by majority of the students and the practice of “selective studying” or “smart-work” is preferred. As a result, students end up getting good grades in subjects which they know little about. This problematic habit of cheating the system has become so ingrained in our minds that even students studying subjects like English literature and history do not go through all their novels and readings as well but instead learn certain answers and critiques by heart and copy them out on their answer sheet. The romanticism in studying is now lost; it has now become a soulless process meant to ensure a certain grade. We are witnessing the demise of education. As countries across the world make education more and more objective, measurable and quantified, the soul of the process of learning is slowly dying out and no one will bear its brunt, apart from students.

Feature Image Credits: iStock

Kinjal Pandey

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DUB Speak

Is Indian Education System built around the Sciences?

By Shubham Kaushik August 27, 2015

Our President addressed the faculty and students of Central Universities and institutions around the country on August 10, 2015. As one of the many students who attended the live telecast, I couldn’t help but notice the absolute lack of any reference to humanities, liberal arts, or anything other than science and technology-based education in India during the address and the following interaction. When arguably the most important figure of your country fails to mention the very stream of your choice of studying in an address related to energising the higher education in the country, it tends to make you think about not just the education system, but also your own love and future prospects in pursuing the same.

This is not the first, or the only instance, that comes to mind when thinking about this issue. The much talked about hierarchy of pursuing science followed by other subjects is real beyond the choosing of subject streams in Class 10. It is not just the stigma and trying to explain to people how studying English, Sociology or History wasn’t a decision prompted by your lack of options. Humanities shouldn’t be considered the paltry, last-option bunch of subjects people opt for when they haven’t qualified for another. Through this, not only are we, as a country and society, discouraging young, enthusiastic students who are keen on pursuing subjects but we’re also opening ourselves up to the very real possibility of not having enough learned people in these subjects. We have been conditioned to believe that having enough doctors and engineers would take care of our needs but by ignoring humanities, we’re ignoring the people who study our interaction as human beings and are, through their studies and theories, responsible for the structure, institutions and life the way we see today.

The interaction session following the President’s address was between the heads of science and technology based institutions, who talked about the leaps in their research facilities and making India a research-based education hub. While it is always amazing to hear about the leaps and bounds our country has made in terms of research and education, it was disheartening to not hear about any such research or study conducted by students pursuing humanities or discuss how our country fares in terms of education specifically in this stream. That’s mostly because we don’t. We’re a country made of and for engineers and doctors, featuring Science research. Our education system is built around it, and everyone panders to and reinforces it.

The young doctorate student questioned why bright Indian minds should go abroad for their higher education given the myriad opportunities offered in the country itself. It’s a good question, but it further raises an important point. Are we actually offering opportunities to students not pursuing pure sciences, medicine and engineering? And since we’re not, is it unfair to not expect students to leave the country in search of better opportunities? By failing to talk about humanities and the arts, is India responsible for a part of its brain-drain itself?

Image Credits: forbesindia.com

Shubham Kaushik

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