Wither creative minds?

Shivli Tyagi / TNN / May 27, 2006, 20:09 IST

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With most good students either 'wanting' or 'being forced to' take up science or commerce, is humanities, or 'arts subjects' as they are known, dying a slow death in Gujarat?

With most good students either 'wanting' or 'being forced to' take up science or commerce, is humanities, or 'arts subjects' as they are known, dying a slow death in Gujarat?
With barely a week to go before D-Day, 16-year-olds across Gujarat are biting their nails in anticipation of their class X board examination results.
But just as important as the results is the decision that follows: choosing the right stream for the higher secondary level.
And it is here that different factors like parental pressure, fear of job security and lack of choice in good educational institutions come into the picture.

Ankit Sahay, a class XI student secured 73 per cent marks in his board examination last year. Ankit would have gladly taken up humanities but he was forced to study science as it is considered an 'intelligent' stream.
"Everyone told me that I should take up science or commerce. Doing arts was of no use. It was meant for only those who barely managed to scrape through. So I took up science even though I find it too tough."
Student counsellors who have popularised the importance of aptitude tests, are a worried lot. "Things have changed and more students are showing interest in creative fields. Yet they don't take up arts due to parental pressure. The general feeling is that these subjects are for the lesser mortals,"says Nimrat Singh, a career counsellor.

Tripti Dave, whose son Vinit recently secured 62 per cent marks in class XII says, "My son wasn't very keen in taking up science but I had to force him hoping that he would secure good marks in HSC. What future is there for an arts student? With a science background, he still has some options. "
Archit Bhatt, director of Tripada school is not surprised. "If there were good colleges for higher studies in humanities, I am sure more students would opt for arts. The state needs to take an initiative so that there isn't this mad rush for medical and engineering courses."
So why don't schools offer arts as an option at the HSC level? According to principal of CN Vidyalaya Jitendra Trivedi, the subjects authorised by the government are plenty but the problem lies in employing subject specific teachers. "We can't provide all options. We don't have enough students for most arts subjects,"he says.
Ira Desai, director of Ankur School agrees. She says, "Till sometime ago, we used to offer the arts stream. We stopped because of two reasons - most students opted for science and commerce. And there is a scarcity of teachers for humanities."
However, the official verdict is different. H N Hingu, chairman, Gujarat secondary and higher secondary board says, "This year itself about 2,50,000 opted for arts as a course in their higher secondary level. In Gujarat, we have 668 schools that offer science stream and 2592 schools that offer the general stream."
Yet, students like Namita Chauhan, who wanted to take up arts in an English medium school affiliated to Gujarat board, found out she had no option. "Even if there are so many schools offering arts, I couldn't find my subjects. I was forced to choose commerce."
Time for some brain storming?
(With inputs from Prerna Shah)

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