Recently we have been hearing a lot about education being seen as a business, and so called student organisations protesting, court cases being fought, outrage against self financing colleges, every issue that happens in a self financing college blown out of proportion, property destruction etc etc. Is education business good ?
The motivation to write this post is a comment by a reader in one of my previous posts about the suicide of a college student in MACFAT, a self financed college.
“I don’t know in what sense it is ‘wonderful college’.Because I spend around 3 years in MACFAST.During my time the management and admin was not that much good also.If the situation is same I think the management and principal have responsibility for the incident. For them it is a business. ” - Thomas
Almost 20 years back, a relative of mine got an entrance rank around 1200. But he didnt get admission for engineering because no seats were left after cutting all the reservations.
In 2001 a friend of mine paid 4 lakhs donation to get admitted to an engineering college in Bangalore. His entrance rank was 12,000. His annual fees, 60,000 Rs. The torture he got from his seniors there is another story.
In 2002 the self financing revolution happened in Kerala. Now in 2008, a junior of mine with an entrance rank 13,000 is studying in a very good engineering college 4 km away from his home. He didnt pay any donation and he his fees is only 38,000. He has no hostel expenses, travelling expenses and he is not afraid of his seniors.
Now this is what engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu do to our students. Check out the PSN engineering college story. Did any of the student organisations go there and protest ? It takes guts to challenge that management. Not something that our little student politicians can do.
Is education business good for our state ? You decide.
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A student of MACFAST college committed suicide. The suicide note said, her college management asked her to buy a new laptop, cos her old laptop got stolen. Is that reason enough to end ones life ? I dont know maybe it is.
SFI attacked the college. Typical response from an irresponsible student organisation. College authorities taken to police station for questioning. Law takes its route. Newspaper publish the news as if they got a scoop. Anything against self financing colleges will sell in Kerala.
In 2004 another girl committed suicide. Rajani S Anand. She was a student of College of Engineering Adoor, an unfortunate Semi private, semi government college, of which I was also a student of. Our poor principle, who joined the college only months after Rajani left the college was crucified. He lived under police protection for weeks.
I was final year then, and I know what exactly had happened. But the irresponsible media reports blamed the college and the authorities. We as students were not allowed to speak the truth. We tried to do a press conference and we got threats over the phone, as it would be against the already spread propaganda.
The biggest media culprit - MalayalaManorama
Check out the news report in Hindu, another well respected newspaper.
Her father, Sivanandan, quietly sobs as he recounts his beloved daughter’s relentless efforts which helped her secure admission to the engineering college at Adoor. “She used to burn the midnight oil. Having cleared the Plus Two course with distinction, she had her sights set on the MBBS. She finally settled for engineering, as it would entail less financial burden on the family. Since we could not afford to send her to a coaching institute, she relied on used books procured from other students and cleared the entrance examination”.
There are factual mistakes in this report and If I were to point them out, I would be insulting a dead soul. Its a serious crime to insult the dead. But torturing the living is not at all a problem. Also see the tone of reporting. Its written to provoke emotion.
After a few days the hindu business line reports.
The media in Kerala displayed a dismal level of biased, emotive and unprofessional reporting in the way it handled the Rajani episode. Most reports - especially in the local dailies and television channels - were more of editorials that outright cast aspersions on all and sundry, beginning with leads that accused the criminal and pronounced the verdict in a trial, as it were, rather than sticking to the old and trusted, unprejudiced method of reporting who did what, where, when, how and why.
For instance, how many in the media followed up - or scooped in advance - the claim of Cherian Scaria, Principal of the College of Engineering, Adoor, that Rajani had never been asked to remit any tuition fee since her fee used to be remitted in time by the Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes Welfare Department?
The principal said Rajani had not been attending classes since August 7, and the college had not received any application for her transfer certificate so far. Since the college did not have a hostel facility for girls, Rajani was reportedly staying at a private hostel in Adoor. Being a scheduled caste student, she received Rs 2,314 as stipend on June 9, 2003 and the stipend for the current academic year, Rs 2,410, was sanctioned on April 1, 2004. But nobody had turned up to receive the money, he added.
Are these claims true? If so, what is the role of the State and the college management in the tragic death of Rajani?
Did anyone try to find out the truth. The bitter truth, that would make all the protests, all the property destruction. all the emotional out cry look stupid. No one will ever will. Our poor college lost quite a lot of money repairing the damages done by the attackers. Our principles life got screwed settling the case against him.
Who gained ? The political vultures use her photograph in every occasion they can. Check out the trivandrum streets.
Coming back to the new suicide case. I have a very humble request to the media and student organisations. Please try to find out the truth before you act or publish. Please dont screw other people lives.
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The recent hype in the education market is about finishing schools. Every Trust, every agency, every organization which is into education of some sort has or is planning to start a finishing school. The latest to join this is the IHRD.
What are finishing schools ?
A finishing school (in our context) is supposed to make a student ready for the industry. A student joins a finishing schools after his graduation, learns (or is supposed to learn) what he can use while working for a professional company. What a great Idea !!!!!!!
So I am supposed to spend 4 years in an engineering college (and learn stuff thats not useful), and after getting my good for nothing degree I am required to join a finishing school, pay a huge fees and then learn stuff thats useful.
Then Why TF am I wasting 4 years in a college. Why cant I simply join a finishing school after 12th and save a few years of suffering at an engineering college.
Its all about the money… honey…..
Education is a business in Kerala. The most profit making business, and the least troublesome also. I am not against running an educational institution for profit as long as the student is given primary importance. Its not about the stupid syllabus, or the crazy examination system. Its about the student.
Its high time that companies also got involved in the education scenario. The bigots who run the education scenario right now are losers and left overs. The curriculum and the examination system is controlled by a lobby of text book publishers and university staff.
The only solution - Autonomy for institutions.
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