Affirmative action is a very tricky concept and most people don’t realize how complex the topic is. To clarify things, I am for affirmative action, but I am not for the way that it is carried out in my country. Affirmative action in India is used very cleverly to divide communities and is very much used in the form of “vote-bank” politics. I am for affirmative action because I think higher education leads to higher income levels which eventually will result in economic growth.
My public policy economics class was engaged in a rather heated debate on affirmative action, and the debate constituted to forty percent of the grade. One of the interesting things that came out was that when an African- American student sees a African- American professor, he is more often inspired than not. I have always believed that it is all right for a hundred criminals to go scot-free but the innocent should definitely not be punished. There are people who will misuse the system but that does not mean that we abolish the system completely. In this case by abolishing the system altogether, we deny that one student who is “hungry for education” a chance for higher education. Again one can argue, that if he has the “hunger to study”, he should have got the grades required to go to the next stage. What if the student is educated in a government institution which has teachers who are not as well-informed as their peers in a classy private school? What if the student is so poor that he does not have a conducive environment to study at home? What if the student cannot afford expensive tutorial classes that most middle-class or upper-middle class kids have access to? And, we all know that our high-school education system is not the most accurate way to determine the level of aptitude.
Having said that, I would like to offer my two-cents on the issue.
• The premium institutes should be accessed by the best students because it determines the future of India’s research and development which helps in attracting foreign direct investment. This includes IIT’s, IIM’s, Medical colleges and institutes like DSE, TISS etc.
• The other institutes must be divided into state, private and schools held by religious establishments.
• The state colleges will have a higher percentage of affirmative action based on the divisions that exist (SC, ST, and OBC etc.). Tuition is subsidized in these schools and classes are intense. The student entering the school is grilled until he can match his peers…if a student coming into the institution does not perform for two semesters, they will be sent out and will not be given a chance to re-apply using his affirmative-action card. Graduates from government colleges must be perceived “top-class”.
• The private schools, will have x percentage of seats guaranteed for affirmative action with professors working extra hard to make these kids get better grades. Again, the management has the right to kick students out of the institution based on their grades. One of the variables used in determining the rating of the institution is the number of graduates / total number of students enrolled under affirmative action. No subsidies offered but funds provided on intelligent research propositions.
• The religious institutes have a right to hire ‘x’ percentage of students based on the religion category but results must monitored every five years. If the institution does not perform for two successive years in producing quality graduates (can be monitored by the number of college placements), then the institution will be under the vigil of the government. Corrective steps must be taken.
• All three types of institutes will be under the control of the government which is expected to provide adequate funding. The colleges will also be open for funding by private corporations and research organization for funding.
• Quotas based on sports and other extra-curricular activities must be promoted across all colleges. Again performance must be monitored of these students. ( Currently does not exist in private colleges ).
• Governments or the Parliament should not be allowed to increase the percentage of admissions on affirmative action. An independent body should be established for fixing the number of seats, dispute settlements etc.
To conclude, maximum responsibility must be fixed at the professor and the institute level and adequate support and funding from the state is required to ensure that professors and institutes do not play the system.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
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3 comments:
Hi Shumit- I agree with you that affirmative action or reservation does make sense. But my opinion is that any sort of affirmative action should be based on the economic levels/status and not on caste.
Also the reservations must be at the lower education levels, schools and undergraduate colleges. The post graduate and professional courses must be based purely on merit.
Alos I'm not sure just how practical your suggestions are. I think you've said the Private and religious institutions should be under government control. Don't you think quality levels will automatically slip?? wouldn't it be better to keep private institutions autonomous with only a certain percentage reserved for people below the economic cut-off.
Question: I agree with you that affirmative action or reservation does make sense. But my opinion is that any sort of affirmative action should be based on the economic levels/status and not on caste.
Answer: I totally agree. However, since its impossible to revoke all the benefits that we have given to a certain class of society ( because it will cause huge unrest and no government will be willing to take the stand), this is the next best solution.
Question: Also the reservations must be at the lower education levels, schools and undergraduate colleges. The post graduate and professional courses must be based purely on merit.
Answer: Yes, reservation must be at lower levels. However, since we do not have the resources in terms of quality teachers and adequate funding, the policy cannot reap immediate benefits. My policy reforms will handle the situation until the world becomes an ideal place to live.
Question : Alos I'm not sure just how practical your suggestions are. I think you've said the Private and religious institutions should be under government control. Don't you think quality levels will automatically slip??
Answer : The state will be montoring the system and performance of the college. Since I propose an independent body for monitoring purposes, I don't see a reason why it should slip. Also, the colleges have an incentive to perform cos if not, then their lisences are revoked and a new management takes over. My assumption here is that private institutions run with the objective of making profits and religions institutions have a good financial back-up to start off the college, an investment which they don't want to lose.
Hi Shumit,
I agree with most things you say. In fact, you have mirrored my thoughts in most cases.
But like the previous commentor, I have some doubts about the practical application of your suggestions.
To me, our country's population is the main reason for most of its problems. Considering the fact that there are going to lakhs and lakhs of students appearing for higher studies, are a few thousands of seats here or there going to make a big difference? I know you are discussing the concept here but practically speaking, it doesnt really make a difference in our country.Students and doctors can protest all they want but as long as they are going to marry and have children themselves, I see no way out for us.
The huge population means that we can ignore the concerns of others and carry on as long as we are not directly affected. This is true for the majority of people in the country. Everyone is worried about their livelihood and their family, and corruption and apathy are rationalized.
The reason I am mentioning this is that in your suggestions, you say that the state should be monitoring student performances and conducting itself with sincerity and commitment. But this is never going to happen as I dont see any motivation for them to be honest.Also, the same students who are protesting about fairness and meritocracy might be tempted to use unfair means during exams simply because of the pressure and the sheer number of people they are competing with, if they were assured they could get away with it. I have seen this happen in school as well as college.
Ultimately, Affirmative Action is a good concept but it is never likely to be applied in the spirit with which it should be.Politicians are going to use it to win votes, forward class students are going to claim they want no quotas for the sake of quality, but its really to protect their interests and the OBCs are going to feel like beggars who are given a favor. It makes for a good debate alright but in its application, there is much to be desired.
Hope you had a good time in Bangalore dude. :-)
See you on Monday...
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