Colleges or Schools?

People who are aware of the situation will appreciate how an increasingly large number of engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu are being run like schools. One can find these colleges enforce strict and in many cases ridiculous rules and regulations which often infringe on some of the basic rights given to an Indian citizen. One should not be surprised to see engineering colleges in chennai that do not allow guys and girls to talk to each other. Yes, you heard me right. It may be tough to believe, but this actually happens in many places. Yours truly can bear evidence to the same, having spent four years in one of the strictest engineering ‘colleges’ of the country. Of course, its an irony that this was followed by a 2 yr stint in one of the most lenient and ‘chill’ b schools of the country!

Coming back to the topic of discussion, I believe that the 3-4 years of college life completes a person’s journey to adulthood. These years are crucial for a man in shaping his personality, which will be his asset for the rest of his life. College life is the time when a boy encounters a lot of new things in life. For the first time he realises how close he is to adulthood. He gets the perks that come with adulthood and also the responsibilities. He experiences freedom- it is exciting and sometimes scary too. The experiences at this age- the friends he makes, the enemies he makes, the situations he encounters, the first love, the second love, the college strike, the secret drink sessions with mates, the third love, the leaked exam papers, the ragging sessions, etc- determine the kind of man he will be for the rest of his life.

South India, especially Tamil Nadu is well known for its ‘intellectual’ tradition. The educational footing is strong in these states and as a result the region is a favourite with the industry. This positive environment has resulted in a virtuous cycle where the people have a strong faith in the power of education as a means to reach prosperity. This has resulted in a large number of higher educational institutes based out of the south. The number of engineering institutes is astonishing. Tamil Nadu alone has more than one lakh (100,000) engineering seats to offer every year. Of course, the quality of most institutes is very questionable. Nevertheless, the economic environment in the state and the country at large is such that any half decent engineering graduate gets a well paying job. People from rural regions of Tamil Nadu have suffered for a long time with an unreliable monsoon and an unfriendly neighbour when it comes to sharing of water resources. After years of a downhill ride in the state’s agricultural fortunes, many people have lost faith in agriculture as a means of livelihood. People want their sons to go to the city and enter the industry and see prosperity. An engineering seat is a very good means to achieve this.

The opportunists have capitalised on this opportunity by opening engineering colleges in every nook and corner. But the most important ingredient to lure students to a college is by having a credible placement record. The colleges try to ensure that they achieve a good academic record (read examination results) every year. There are regular exams and assignments. Failing in these will result in heavy impositions and other punishments. Academics is not just the most prominent issue in the agenda, it is the Agenda for these colleges. Things like sports and cultural activities are given only a cursory treatment. They also enforce strict rules like 100% attendance, no interaction between the sexes, formal wear (I heard that there is one college in chennai which requires students to wear ties 5 days a week! Now beat that… ties in chennai!!), no funky haircuts allowed, clean-shaven faces becoming mandatory. Such measures usually convince parents that here is a good college which will ensure that their son will not end up going in the wrong path and will get a good job in the end. The thing about no interaction between the sexes is a major selling point with parents of girls who are usually more worried about leaving their ward in a hostel far away from their hometown.

Things have come to such a turn that colleges are now competing with each other to impose stricter and more ridiculous rules. And these rules are actually enforced with a high degree of success. The end result is that at the end of four years you get a boy- not a man- who is seemingly bright chap with 80% in his engineering degree, but doesn’t know the fundamental engineering concepts. This kid is a very disciplined person, is used to formal wear and a can talk English. This is enough for a recruiter from an IT company to come and recruit him.

These ridiculous rules will not only cause students to forget about the fun element in college life, but it will also result in producing men of inferior quality. Men who are bound by the system. Men who believe that the system is insurmountable and do not even wish to change it for the better. Men who are cowards, because they have never gone through a ragging session where you learn to tackle bullying. Men who can never respect a woman because they never interacted enough with them. Men who cannot tolerate a rebel because they could never be one. Men who loathe optimists because they were never allowed to be one. Of Course there will be a few exceptions who come out of the system unscathed as normal human beings, but those numbers are unsignificant.

The situation can be rectified only when the mindset of parents change. This change can only happen in the coming generation of parents who have grown up in relative prosperity and who realise that there is more to education in life than can be obtained in text books and class rooms. I hope that this happens sooner than later.