Allopathic
treatment comes under criticism, from the so-called alternative systems of
medicines, for focusing on symptoms and targeting them instead of finding cure
for the underlying causes. As I am not a medical practitioner of any kind, I do
not know how far this criticism is valid.
Likewise,
the population control policies that had targets to be achieved as their ultimate
goals were pointed out to be severely short of development rationale. Here too,
as I am neither an economist nor a development professional, I will be treading
on thin ice if I were to join this chorus.
But,
I do know that when it comes to targets, of the sick kind, nothing beats our
school education system. Of this, even without being an expert in education, I
can say confidently.
I
read an article [1] that spells out the target marks students should seek in
their Board Examinations, so that they would clear their first hurdle in the
race to get ahead in life. Yes, I had used the words “race”, “to get ahead”
most advisedly. The target, the beyond the second filter, is beckoning you. What is it? Entrance into IIT.
But,
you have to pace yourselves. You have to clear your school Board Examinations
at a certain level of competence (I will come to this later). Only then, your
IIT JEE marks, no matter how high or low it is, will be of any use. You can get
to the second filter only if you pass through the first, the school Board
Examinations with the proviso that you are in the top 20 percentile of your passing
class, at the Board level. Top twenty percent, remember that.
The
referred article is helpful. It points out the percentage marks that you should
target. Tamil Nadu, at 78.1%; CBSE –
77.8%; Maharashtra -73.4%; West Bengal – 58%. The article is even more helpful.
It says, “Once the student knows the percentage, he (or she) can prepare for
entry into IITs accordingly.” Targeting going universal.
The
article misses the point of shifting to evaluation of a candidate’s eligibility
through percentiles rather than raw marks, unadjusted for variations. It says,
after listing out the higher percentile cut-offs culled from preliminary data
of Boards such as in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and
Madhya Pradesh and also CBSE, “just
[my emphasis] 58% in the West Bengal Board exam.”
The
writer has blinders on and cannot see beyond percentage marks. Isn’t it obvious
to her, as it is to me and to all the others who even cursorily use their minds
while reading newspaper items, that at 58%, you, harboring under the West Bengal
board, are in the top 20 percentile of your class? It is the same for someone
under the Tamil Nadu board with 78.1%. This is the normalization that people,
driven by politics or otherwise, have accepted. To claim, as the article implicitly
does, that West Bengal board students have it easy is sheer nonsense.
The
article makes it clear how that percentile normalization should be understood:
after all state boards (ostensibly even CBSE) put up their percentage figures
in the public domain soon, “an IIT aspirant can know how much he or she should [my emphasis] aim for in the
boards.” This was quoted as being said
by Gautam Baruah, IIT-Guwahati director.
Note
the word “should” and thank your stars that it is not the moral imperative “shalt”.
What is the good director of IIT-Guwahati saying to the students, say, to those
of West Bengal School Board?
Study
only as hard as and not any harder than necessary to get 58% in your school
boards, particularly if you are aiming for IITs. Once you are within the IIT
system, you will be taken care of. This sounded very close to the sentiments
expressed in an article by an Ivy League graduate I had read about the enabling
(networking, influence peddling and, of course, on second thoughts, good education)
opportunities that come with the privilege of attending an Ivy League school,
say Yale University.
That
is, the IIT brand name is most visible in the networks it affords its students
to develop, not necessarily in the technical and scientific expertise they
stand to gain through four years (it was five years in my time).
There
is a second point, related to competence, to note in the new percentile based standards. In Delhi
University, the fourth cut-offs for various courses in different colleges are
still above 75%, if they are open. That is, the potential IIT entrant may not
have got admission to DU courses of her choice! But based on her performance in
the advanced test of IIT JEE, she may end up with Computer Science at, say, IIT
Mumbai! (This is a distinct possibility if the scenario I sketched out based on
the statement of the director of IIT-Guwahati is realized). Tut, tut, what kind of elitism is that?
Were
I to be asked for fixing the filter, I would have put in a condition like, “Must
be eligible for admission to B.Sc (Hons.) in Physics, Chemistry or Math in
these colleges of such and such universities (eligibility
measured as per the first cut).”
The
idea was to wean people away from target-fixing and aiming. These are for
sports like archery, shooting and a few others. In the other competitions, the
targets - your competitors - are all moving. The world record or the Olympic record
is not the target but winning the gold medal is. If in the process you shatter
the world record, so be it. Relish it as a bonus.
No
matter what well-meaning people do, it comes back to raw targets. It is so in
medicine, in population, in sports, and now in high school education.
That
is I why I claim the targets are sick.
Raghuram
Ekambaram
References
1. New IIT entrance test, cut-offs to
vary widely across the boards, Vanita Shrivastava, Hindustan Times, July 16, 2012 (http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/In-new-IIT-entrance-test-cut-offs-to-vary-widely-across-boards/Article1-889657.aspx)
6 comments:
Just this morning I listened to the Principal of a public school tell both his students and teachers to set targets in terms of percentage, etc. It's so irritating to see people in high positions having no sense of what education is all about. Our educators are losing the perspective tragically with this target chasing.
Yes Matheikal and more so when the ostensibly well-intentioned set up was to move away from it. Thanks for endorsing the thought.
RE
Raghu, targets are like driving in an enclosed track but unfortunately only acheiving make you saleable
That is true Balu, but not quite ... you see, being a graduate of an IIT opens up doors (but doing your M.tech at an IIT fetches far, far less premium). What I am trying to say is, beyond performance the brand name helps to sell.
Thanks for visiting.
RE
When I joined IIT I never even went though coaching.I was lucky to have been born many years back..
I followed in your foot steps DS sir!
RE
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