STUDENT-PARTICIPATION
R. PANDURANGA RAO
Mrs. A. V. N. College,
The consensus
in the country and abroad seems to be in favour
of active student-participation in
academic and administrative matters of
the universities and colleges. The implication is that the existing
bodies, as they are constituted at present, have failed to deliver the goods to the satisfaction of the student community and that student-representation on the
various academic and administrative
bodies is the only remedy for the
present ills of the educational scene of India. All the student unrest is attributed, indirectly at least, to the absence of student-representatives
on the various bodies who would have safeguarded
their interests.
Whatever the reason,
students have become a powerful body with infinite potentialities.
The Politicians use them for
their own ends and the teachers
and administrators feel embarrassed.
So when a demand for student representation
was made by that formidable body, all the
machinery in charge of education
seems to have conceded it with alacrity.
While I agree that
the education of the country
is in a sad mess and that teaching
standards are none too high and
that the employment opportunities
of even science and professional graduates are woefully inadequate, I honestly feel that student-representation, however
fashionable and lofty it
may seem, is not the solution to our problem.
Student-Representation
is certainly desirable in the following spheres:
Extra-curricular Activites:
(a) Student-unions, (b) Dramatic Associations or Fine Arts Societies, (c) Social
Service Leagues, (d) Audio-visual
Education, (e) Magazine Committees,
(f) Sports and Athletics, (g) Library Committees, (h) N. C. C., (i) Hostel Committees, (j) Scouts and Guides,
f) Youth Leagues, (l) Home Guards, (m) Territorial Army, (n) N.S.C.
These bodies provide
the healthiest opportunity for
the expression and development of the student’s
personality. Studies equip the student’s
mind and these other activities prepare him for the challenges of
life. The teachers may function on some of these bodies and discreetly offer
such advice and guidance as may be required without curtailing the freedom of
students or weakening their leadership. Student-teacher relationship is thus established
and they can work in creative harmony. Even in academic matters students may be
consulted and any useful suggestions made by them may be incorporated in the
decisions to be reached by appropriate competent bodies.
Student welfare Councils may
be formed in all universities and colleges and senior popular teachers may be
taken as Deans to look after the welfare of all students and make them feel
that they are privileged members of clean, salubrious, stimulating and
inspiring citadels or learning.
Teachers dedicated to their profession; and commanding respect as teachers and
genuine well-wishers of the student community should be chosen for such
portfolios.
But to give the students a
representation on academic and administrative bodies is to whittle down the
standards still further. If the decisions of the elderly and experienced
teachers and others are disappointing, is it not illogical to assume that the
addition of immature minds to the decision making bodies will contribute to
their strength? We the custodians of student-welfare are yielding to pressure
from a strong but immature community of youth and thus leaving the future of
our youth to the tyranny of chance. Young impressionable minds will drift into
politics and bid good bye to studies. Capturing seats of power in the
educational sphere, they may next demand representation in the Legislative
Assemblies and Lok Sabha
and the Cabinet. Their criticism of syllabi, text-books, examinations,
administration, etc., may sound pleasant and harmless to others but it implies disrespect
to their preceptors and judgment (often adverse) of their intellectual
superiors and the professed shapers of their mind. If this trend is encouraged
there may come a time when interested politicians will direct a tirade against
devoted teachers, hound them out of colleges and universities and convert
shrines of learning into political amphi-theatres.
The disastrous indoctrination of the student population of
What the majority of students really
heed is not political and such other recognition but sound education, training
for leadership and extensive employment opportunities throughout the country. No Bharatiya Vidyardhi or graduate should come out of his
Alma Mater mentally and morally starved or vocationally despondent. While getting his due reward and recognition in life he should learn to
be patriotic enough to give his best to the nation in any capacity. To wean him from
his studies and admit him prematurely into politics is to unfit him for the challenges of life.
All the same
the demand of the student-community
should awaken teachers as well as
administrators from their torpor and lash them into introspection. After twenty-two years of independence we
are unable to assert without fear of contradiction that our
educational institutions are first-rate and our teachers are competent
and devoted to their profession, our
educational pattern is best suited to our country’s needs, and our graduates
compare favourably with their counterparts in
the independent, advanced countries.
The crying need
of the hour is therefore a high-power commission to go into the working of our universities and colleges and suggest drastic changes in every
aspect of our educational scene
today. Let us plan educational
development carefully and make sure that we have the requisite number of qualified
teachers, good buildings and
laboratories before we start colleges and universities. The periodical evaluation of the work of teachers at
all levels is to be undertaken by educationists of repute, not by immature
students who can easily be misguided. Politicians should leave the
job of educational reform to
reputed educationists and allow them to educate the nation for the next twenty years without any interference from the
Government. The educationists too
should take up the challenge, shed their apathy and come forward to discharge their duty to the nation.