Shape up or ship out
We continue to be told that college students are a different race, a new breed without respect for the law, God or man; deaf to anything good, playthings in the hands of wily politicians and given wholly to rioting and vandalism. Elders often lament, “Oh, it was very different in our times.” A variant version depicts college students as bright-eyed realists who see through the sham of our outworn social and educational traditions to a brave new world in which reason and justice will prevail. This notion is not entirely new either. It is usually voiced by inexperienced teachers who cannot distinguish between tall talk and genuine intellectual activity.
It requires no genius to be dissatisfied with the world. Only a dimwit could consider the world a satisfactory place. But only the very young can ardently believe that utopia is only five demonstrations and three riots away. Until they think the hard way and work patiently to create a tolerable society, their sound and fury will signify nothing.
Some of the young of the present generation do put their efforts where their mouth is and join some social service scheme or other praiseworthy projects, but a majority still clamours for a pass without an examination and admission to higher classes without hard work. They revel in the gospel of stagnation.
The second school of thought also holds that the new generation rejects the old system and demands an education relevant to the contemporary world. Some students seem indifferent to anything, which, in their narrow view, does not light up the contemporary scene. Bhanu Bhakta, Lekhnath and Lakshmi Prasad Devkota have nothing to tell them, but detective fiction, cheap sexy books and glazy movie magazines have a lot to. This attitude is far from modern.
Students today do not differ from those of about 15 years ago. They differ in such things as the height of the heel, the length of the trousers and the amount of hair on the head and chin; but they still fall into three categories: those who may profit from university education, those who are not ready for the university, and those who will never be. A typical student is too ill-informed to realise how ignorant he is. He is a curious mixture of brashness and unsureness. He thinks an education is a good thing if he does not have to work for it. And he has a vague idea of what education is. His concept equates it with a degree or a diploma.
Ignorance is the result of youth; of an educational system that employs the wash-outs of society as teachers. There has always been a dearth of good teachers. It is also a result of parents too ignorant or indifferent to contribute their share to the education of their children.
Our generation suffers from an educational curse. It is a stupid notion that one must have a degree or bow out from the race of life. This is the result of employment-job linkup. Education is not a value in itself. The tragedy is that it is no longer a passport to employment either. Hence the students’ attitude of irreverence to it. It has led to millions of teachers being engaged in the fruitless task of adolescent babysitting for students who have no real desire for an education.
Another result of parental permissiveness is that the youngsters often reach college firmly convinced that actions have no consequences. If one’s convictions are sufficiently strong, one should be prepared to suffer for them; but the notion that he has a license to indulge in vandalism and strike without suffering a penalty is simply silly.
Student riots are a new phenomenon in Nepal. They protest against not only examinations but also against the state or national policies. A section of the community claims students are becoming more intellectual. Let’s hope they are. But one thing is certain: They are getting politicised by selfishly election-oriented politicians.
Much student unrest stems from expecting too much from education. There is a tendency to seek quick and certain solutions to our problems. The university cannot furnish them. As a result, students and more doctrinaire teachers gain influence; and their followers become extremely vocal and occasionally riotous. Tiresome as these visionaries are, they will be with us until society really puts its back into the solution of its problems.
Teachers should be better prepared. Only the most naive expect to turn an ignorant and brash young man into a scholar and rationally thinking person in lectures a week. Our best efforts produce a small percentage of graduates capable of rational thought in four or six years. Each year, the task must begin anew as a fresh horde joins college. The solution lies in restricting entry. Only those who can benefit from college should be admitted.
One hears a chorus of protests: equality, equality, equality. Everyone must have equal opportunity to higher education — agreed. But equal opportunity does not mean identical education for all. Now there is a choice opened to us, equality or stupidity.
Shyam Pd Adhikari
spadhikari@wlink.com.np
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