Every university student for years has heard that university is a temple of learning. Yet, when he comes to it, he uses it for vandalism, delinquency, disrespect to authority and political slogan mongering.
A somewhat apologetic version implies that he is starry eyed idealist or a realist. He is dissatisfied with the present system of education. He is impatient of slow change. He wants fast education, which either ensures him a secure future or humanizes him.
The latter aspect he cannot articulate properly. It is only in his subconscious. It has remained buried in his mind because right from his early days, he is asked only one question, “What will you become when you grow up?” Nobody ever asks him what kind of person he would like to grow into.
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Thus the brilliant, talented youngster is caught in a dilemma, which he cannot resolve himself. He knows college or university education is not preparing him for a particular vocation. He does not know what kind of person he is growing into.
It is fashionable to be frustrated. It is easier than facing the grim realities of uncertain future and uneasy present. The youngster thus revels in rejecting whatever is connected with the cause of his frustration. His target is the redundant educational system and much of the world of the past.
He relates himself to the contemporary scene. He may find nothing appealing in Scriptures because to him they are hangover from the past. But he delights in chasing away his boredom and frustration in reading . It is not because he finds deeper insights into it but because he must relate himself to the contemporary scene.
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Whatever his intellectual or educational pretensions, he is too insecure and unsure of himself. When he is acting brave, he is covering his sense of inadequacy in some sphere. His brashness is a by-product of his un-sureness.
The brash youngster, ignorant of his own ignorance, can be put into three categories One who is sure to benefit from higher education? He is prepared for it. Two, who is not ready for higher education whatever his percentage of marks. Three one who will never be ready to benefit despite all the concessions, including promotion without examination.
The tragedy of the system, which provides equal opportunity to all these categories, is that it turns the youngster into an irreverent pseudo-scholar. Added to this unfortunate aspect are two more factors, often overlooked. Tragically, our society employs washouts of society as teachers at early stages, which keeps the vision of the student myopic. He sees no glimpses of greatness, which only erudition can supply.
The examination oriented teacher himself struggling for various right or wrong causes fails on two counts. He can do nothing for the student except perform a kind of mental baby-sitting during class hours. Nor can he instill any desire for further knowledge. His only contribution is irreverence to education and institutions of higher learning.
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Loosening of controls has caused the impression to spread that a student can get away with anything. The youngster, impressionable as he is, quickly gets into this behaviour pattern. Try stopping him and he reacts. Concession once given can seldom be withdrawn.
The college or the university tries to perform a function, which cannot but breed frustration. It purports to prepare the student for a job, which, in, fact, does not exist. There is talk of employment oriented courses. But that is about all.
Unfortunately, the temples of higher learning themselves brainwash the student into believing that without a job he is incomplete. He is never told that education is a valuable attribute in itself.
Another dangerous myth temples of higher learning foist on the student is that irrespective of three categories referred to earlier in the article, equal opportunity is his right. Nobody examines this explosive misconception. Equal opportunity does not mean similar education for all.