The death of TNPCEE (and along with it engineering standards)

The Tamil Nadu government has announced that the TNPCEE examination (Tamil Nadu Professional College Entrance Examination) will be abolished. In the new system for engineering admission, the students will be ranked based on their board exam scores alone. To the uninitiated it might sound like the new scheme is simpler and thus is beneficial to both the students and the administrators. Unfortunately, it might not be so. The new scheme compromises a much more important issue - selection based on merit.

I was initially shocked when I read that Jayalalitha abolished TNPCEE, a move which has been praised by all political parties alike. Then I felt a huge wave of relief that it was not done when I was in my 12th standard. To explain these feelings, I need to highlight a few points about the new system.

1. The board examination in its current form is incapable of distinguishing the aptitude and hardwork put in by different students. Since the structure of the exam is mostly essay-type, it cannot be practically used as a competitive exam.
2. Now students dont need to understand the subject, but rather memorize it blindly.
3. The uncertainities and vageries of answer-paper correction, which has always been of low standard, will unfairly influence students' choices
4. It is very likely that there are going to be 300-400 students with the same score. How is the administration going to sort it? Based on age? caste? or alphabeical order? With a name "Vivek", you can understand why I am relieved profusely. Cant you? I will remember to name my son "Aakash" and my daughter "Aarthi".Maybe I should put in another 'a', just in case.
5. This system is prejudiced against the students from other boards (CBSE etc.)
   
6. The alleged benefit of the new system is that engineering college seats will be more accessible to rural students. What the government doesn't consider is the plight of these students after they join engineering colleges. Not used to the tremendous competition that is common in these colleges, most of these students perform poorly compared to other students. This leads to more college dropouts or worse lowering the standard of education to meet these demands. This is where the old system performs admirably. More competitive students get into more competitive colleges.
   
7. The best way to improve standards of the rural students is to improve the education system itself in rural areas. A quota system for rural students could also be considered. There is already a quota system in place for rural students from SC/ST castes.This could be expanded to all castes. But since the quota system is already abused badly, this could only open a pandora's box of problems.
8. With India striving to be a developed nation, we need more colleges like IITs which conduct active research catering the needs of the Indian society in specific. Colleges that have already established a reputation of providing good engineering education are the ones that could develop the research capability. The new system will be detriment towards this development by lowering the standards.

Some positive spin offs I can think with the new system are as follows. While I welcome the fact that these problems are addressed, I strongly believe the proposed system is not the way to solve these problems.

1. Colleges will have more women students
2. The coaching classes which were extorting money from the students and spreading unnecessary fear about the exam itself are now out of business.

Hopefully the engineering education is refined before further damage happens. Many colleges are already unable to fill half their seats. Any confusion could take further toll.

Dress Code- A suppression of expession

This post is about a recent rule brought about in my alma mater- Anna University. A new vice-chancellor took over recently, and he has decided to impose some of his perceptions of propriety on 50,000 students all over Tamil Nadu. To quote the directive from Anna University website:

"The dress code states that students should not wear jeans, t-shirts, skirts or sleeveless and tight-fitting outfits and enjoins them to dress conservatively."

Chennai has always been a conservative city, but it generally avoids contoversies. Such imposition of "Indian culture" is usually restricted to the likes of Siva Sena and VHP in the north. So it really surprised me to hear about this happening at my own backyard.

To quote the VC's comments on the rule:

"We are only trying to ensure that students dress decently and modestly, in a way that befits our culture. A dress code will also pre-empt harassment of women students,"

Sorry sir.. I differ on your arguements. I do not accept your interpretation of "Indian Culture"

Traditional Indian attire for women used to be two-piece which exposed much of the upper body. Women in ancient Indian society were much more emancipated when compared to women in the modern Indian society. Somewhere down the line in history, the rights of women diminished and the dress they were required to wear increased.

Dont mistake me.. I dont say all girls should start wearing two piece. Dress in whatever you feel comfortable in...

Dress is a form of expression. You feel good when you dress good. It is a way of stating your attitude and character; a way of expressing creativity. In the modern society Jeans and T-shirts have become symbols of youthfulness and confidence. Any move to ban them is retrograde and antidiluvian.

As for short skirts, low hip jeans, short tops, etc... These are symbols of culture change. They are not yet totally accepted by the Indian middle class society. The college is a place where much of the cultural change happens. Dont try to control the change, because you cannot.

Ok now for the second argument: Girls who wear "modern" clothes are more susceptible to harrassment.

I do not accept or deny this. You need to perform a scientific survey to determine it. Like I already said, such clothes have become symbols of confidence. My hypothesis is that girls who wear modern dresses handle harrassment in a bolder way than girls who dont. From my experience, most harassers steer clear of girls who are not intimidated. The solution to harrassment of women comes by empowering them, not restricting them.

Finally to prevent more criticism from women organizations, the vice-chancellor has said even boys will be banned from wearing jeans and t-shirts. They should be dressed in formal shirts and pants. I dont understand why if certain type of western clothes are acceptable, certain others are not.