How UGC's adamance on college exams shows govt's disconnect with the youth
When the government had announced the lockdown, students left their books, belongings and almost everything while leaving for their homes hoping that the situation will get better soon.
Coronavirus is on and so is the pressure of exams. Educational institutions have been shut for more than four months and looking at the velocity of the virus, they are expected to maintain the status quo for a little longer than expected.
When the government had imposed the lockdown, nobody had expected that the situation would remain gruesome for such a long time. Students left their books, belongings and almost everything while leaving for their homes, hoping that the situation will get better in the course of time. Now, the government's adamance on conducting examinations has made them lose their hopes as well.
The University Grants Commission (UGC), the apex body that governs the higher education in the country has called the examination for final year students ‘binding’ and is in no mood to take a U-turn on this step. The justification they are giving is that passing students without exams will add no value to their degrees. But the point here is - how will shutting down the universities and colleges, and conducting no classes add any value to these degrees?
If the students can give an exam by not going to the university at all, what does it explain about our education system? And if they manage to pass, then these age-old universities, their meritorious professors and the whole educational infrastructure and the paraphernalia, would lose their relevance.
Speaking to Rajdeep Sardesai, Bhushan Patwardhan, the vice-chancellor of the UGC had said that if we can open up liquor shops and commercial spaces, then why not examination halls? He also said that just for the sake of pleasing students temporarily, we cannot take steps that may ruin their career.
When business and liquor shops can be opened, why can't exams be held, asks Prof. Bhushan Patwardhan.#NewsUnlocked (@sardesairajdeep)Live: https://t.co/4fqxBVUizL pic.twitter.com/rHKUdhDLrz
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) July 9, 2020
Patwardhan went on to add that they may review the decision if the situation worsens, but this decision is enough for creating insecurities among the youth, especially the ones with lesser means.
Examinations for final-year students can be conducted following social distancing and wearing masks. But what we are forgetting is that it takes 20 weeks of rigorous classes and training to be capable of sitting in that exam. If the students pass, they might have a valuable degree. However, the education provided to them becomes valueless in all sense.
Can a final-year student of Engineering take a practical exam without touching the appropriate machinery once? Can students of economics study econometrics and other quantitative subjects without understanding them?
Lakhs of students are in their final year; how many of them own a computer system that they can attend online classes or even give online examinations? Delhi University tried and failed miserably. Several state governments that had cancelled examinations are now revisiting their decision since the ones taken by UGC are binding for all.
While it is not clear how these universities will give a go-ahead to the examinations, how the logistics of conducting them, like travelling, reaching venues will work when there is no fixed date of public transportation resuming, and when will inter-state mass movements be safe, but yes, examinations and classes can’t be postponed for a pandemic.
Protesting students have no place to go. The only people raising their voices are the student activists and the Opposition, both of which are out of power at the Centre. India’s median age is 27 years; however, the median age of its Parliament is 55. This disproportional representation of youth is also a factor why governments fail to address their issues properly.
When the youth is faced by the issues of massive unemployment and the education system behaves like a clerk-producing factory, it is expected that there will be a mass exodus of talented youth towards countries where there are opportunities and quality education.
This might prove to be detrimental for the ruling government that spent crores in order to woo young voters in the Lok Sabha elections last year. In these trying times, when the confidence in the government is at an all-time low, it is not prudent to lose the youth’s faith, which has started deteriorating.