Ramblings of Souri

Nothing could be more tragic or farcical than the ‘posthumous’ awarding of first division marks to the late Reecha Mishra, the Plus Three college student who committed suicide after securing a second division in the last academic session in Bhubaneswar.Reecha became a martyr to the machinations of mercenary teachers who deprived her of her legitimate marks solely because she did not register for their private tuitions. But hers is not an isolated case.Reecha spoke out in death for thousands of students and parents who are victims of the blatant commercialisation of education in the country today. Be it a leaked All India Medical Entrance Examination or manipulation in top ten list of Plus Two results, corruption in education is ubiquitous.The death of a student by her own hand is only symptomatic of the failure in a system that trashes merit and trades in percentages and degrees. By doing so it plays mercilessly with the futures and ultimately with the very lives of innocents. Students and parents are subjected to a particularly vicious form of blackmail that gives them the choice between cheating and failing.Not surprisingly, even those who are light of pocket shell out large sums for private tuitions. Teachers simply pocket the fat salaries paid to them under UGC revised package and hold the classrooms to ransom. They hijack the curriculum, either by not taking classes or deliberately not completing the course so that the classes can be taken back home at a price.They are paid by the hour and tutor large complements of students in multiple sessions.No punishment is too high for these purveyors of education and the prompt action taken by the state government against the guilty trio in the Reecha case is laudable.However, mere suspension or dismissal of individual culprits will not solve the problem. Teachers should be made accountable and this can be done by strict supervision of their work. A better system of monitoring the performance of teachers including grading by those they serve - the students themselves - should put in place.Their increments and promotions should be linked to criteria like completion of course, assignments and quality of teaching. The government should also impose and enforce a ban on private tuition by college teachers who are being paid the UGC scale.As for parents, instead of conniving to make their children cheat or pay their way to success they should speak out against unscrupulous elements in the education system.Students like Reecha should not have to die to get their due.