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Students' woes

ON THE occasion of the 57th death anniversary (March 28) of one of India's greatest freedom fighters, S. Sathyamurti, who kept the British imperial overlords enthralled and squirming with his powerful oratorical sallies against them both in Tamil and Eng lish, the Madras University Students' Advisory Bureau and the Satyamurti Centre for Democratic Studies, had arranged a colloquium on students' perspectives on national development. It was attended by representatives of the student community and faculty m embers from a number of colleges.

The discussion covered concrete issues of relations with parents, teachers, government functionaries and the society at large. Two real-life case studies were given to the participants to comment on. One was the largescale hooliganism by the New College students in Chennai who went on a rampage stoning buses and ransacking transport corporation offices simply because the inspecting staff had dared to impound the pass carried by a student on detecting some irregularities. The other was the report of a st udent writing an examination stabbing the principal of a college to death when the latter evicted him from the examination hall for copying.

The exchange of views, marked by frankness and occasionally by a touch of bitterness, was an eye-opener even to the experienced and worldly-wise elders present at the colloquium. The young boys and girls seemed to suffer from a variety of frustrations an d grievances, the dominant among them being about the rot they saw around them right in their homes. Few parents listened to them or consulted them on their preferences in regard to academic courses or careers. In the presence of their own offspring, the ir parents talked freely about their recourse to corruption and other acts of wrongdoing and violations of law.

Teachers who were expected to set an example indulged in rowdyism and lawlessness right before their eyes. They were money-minded and indifferent to their duties. The atmosphere at home and in educational institutions was generally unconducive to the nur turing of any values or principles in personal and professional conduct. Indeed, young and sensitive minds were forced to bear testimony to corruption and manipulation from the stage of admission to schools and universities, especially to private enginee ring/medical colleges. After all, students were creatures of parents, teachers and the society and to expect them to cultivate the stamina to swim against the current was being unrealistic.

The explanation given by a girl participant for the stabbing of the principal to death by a student caught copying was also revealing. Students who do not get the grades expected of them and those who do not pass examinations go through hell at the hands of some parents, driving a few to suicide. The student stabbing the principal might have thought that it was a choice between taking the principal's life or taking his own, if he is to escape the living death at home.

The happy consensus of the colloquium was that whatever the provocation, the younger generation should not find external scapegoats for justifying their own fall from values and should tirelessly strive to change things for the better.

B. S. Raghavan