Education woes: Students in trouble

MUMBAI: Wednesday was a day of success and failure, hope and dejection, growth and stagnation for hundreds of young boys and girls in Mumbai. For them it was a D-day on their career path. Yes, the Higher Secondary (12th) results were announced. As this result decides the career path, particularly for science students, it assumes a lot of importance.
In Mumbai, 1.64 lakh students appeared and 1.37 lakh (83.95 per cent) passed.Mumbai''s performance is as usual much better than the overall state performance. Of the 7.44 lakh students who appeared for the examination in the state, 5.14 lakh (69.11 per cent) passed. Mumbai and Pune are the only two divisional boards out of total eight boards in the state, whose passing percentage is more than the overall state passing percentage. But no Mumbai student could achieve the position of the state topper. That honour went to Amravati.
With the announcement of the results, the topic of immediate concern is depression, loss of hope, frustration etc. among the students who failed or failed to get expected marks in order to safely secure admission to some good professional course. Due to tough competition, frustration is also so severe nowadays that cases of suicide attempts had been reported after the results during the last few years. However, some Samaritans have come forward and formed organisations to give a helping hand to such students to prevent any rash action.
Maharashtra''s highly educated former minister Dr Shrikant Jichakar, who is known for securing large number of degrees from different disciplines, has also taken up this cause. In a recent speech he advised parents on what to expect and what not from their children and asked the students to approach him any time if they feel frustrated due to bad results.
With results out, the rush for admission to the higher education and professional courses will begin now. For some courses there will be CETs or institution level entrance tests, interviews etc. But for regular streams, it is a normal admission process. Those who are just on the threshold of the cut-off percentage for professional courses, it will be a real headache till they secure a seat. They will have to first take some ''safe'' admission till they are successful in getting admission to the course and institution of their choice.
Of course for all those who will secure the seats, the headache caused by tension will not conclude with their grand success of getting admission. No one knows when any disgruntled candidate will move the court and stall the admission process. So, only when the classes begin the lucky ones will be able to relax.
The main obstacle for middle class students this year for seeking admission to professional courses like engineering etc. is the new fee structure. All seats in private engineering and medical colleges have been made ''payment'' seats and college managements have been authorised to decide their own fee structure with the approval of the special authority created by the government for the purpose. Those students who will not be able to pursue these courses despite securing good marks due to their inadequate financial condition, will naturally go to regular courses putting much more pressure on admissions to these regular colleges.
The victims in this case will be those who are in the lower marks category as they will find it difficult to get admissions to regular courses. Ultimately, as usual, the government will have to come to their rescue and arrange for their admissions.
All these problems regarding admissions are worsening with every passing year, but no authority is coming out with some drastic solution. With the general percentage rising to a very high level, one way could be to raise the percentage for passing also. So that those who have secured above 35 will not be in a false notion that they have passed 12th exam but have nowhere to go for further studies. Experts discuss alternatives on all these issues every year, but decision makers do not have time to pay attention to it.
As we are on the topic of education, it is worthwhile mentioning here the approach of the education department towards heritage sites. The old, picturesque bungalow of the dean of the JJ School of Arts in Mumbai is the birthplace of Rudyard Kipling as his father was the first dean here in 19th century. As the bungalow is vacant now since no dean has been appointed, someone in the education ministry thought it fit to open an office of a government department here.
After a lot of hue and cry by the artists and heritage lovers, the plan is abandoned now. But it speaks a lot on the approach of those in the government to look at such sensitive things. Is there a clash between the government machinery and sensitivity?