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When students, especially undergraduates, enter their colleges for the first time, they have various dreams in their eyes. They dream of fun-filled College life, making lifelong connections, learning to the best of their abilities and leaving one day to reach the greater goal of their life.

All these dreams come crashing down when the students become aware of the vicious trend of academic politics. One of the noblest professions in the world, academia, cannot be said to be devoid of politics and more often than not, students are at the receiving end of the chaos.

When students opt for a course, especially for professional degrees, they commit precious years of their lives to academic learning. While the quantum of learning remains an important parameter, they have to make this choice very cautiously due to other factors as well.

Once a student takes admission in a course, they have to stay in the same for the entire tenure. Exceptions exist for the daring ones, but the larger population prefers to stick to their choices despite the discomforts. Most dropouts decide to leave in the middle of the coursework either because they get an opportunity in a better college or they want to change streams. Students seldom undertake migration or year drops because of administrative issues faced by them.

Often, this vulnerability of students and the fear in them of losing their academic year and lagging is used by universities and colleges for their benefit. Let us have a look at instances when colleges may sacrifice the rights of students on the stake of their ego and arbitrary policies.

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Exams During Pandemic 

No student loves exams, but considering the prevalent mode of marking, they have to sit for them. Exams are prescribed as per the tried and tested model of performance evaluation and there is no problem in their conduction till the time arbitrariness seeps in. Recently, various instances of students being forced to sit for physical, pen and paper exams during the pandemic have come to light.

One of the universities coercing their students to risk their lives for exams is the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University. The university arbitrarily released a notification for conduction of internal and external examinations within a gap of 11 days. The notification is in contradiction with the UGC guidelines and the university’s academic calendar. However, due to lack of a proper redressal mechanism, the students are forced to risk their lives and give exams even when the world is fighting a dangerous virus.

Fee Hike

Not all students who come to colleges have the necessary means to pay for the exorbitant tuition fees and living expenses. A limited number of government universities provides low-cost higher education and even limited are the number of those who provide low-cost professional education. This leaves students at the mercy of banks and lenders to pay the fee. 

It is no secret that everyone is facing economic hardships due to the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic. Colleges are holding classes remotely however, despite this, there hasn’t been any deduction in the fees charged by them. Colleges and universities aren’t paying any heed to the demands of the students and since students have no choice but to go ahead with paying the fee, the unreasonableness of colleges and universities is going unnoticed.

Uncooperative Administration and Lack of Accountability

People of the young generation are aware of their rights and they also make efforts to get them enforced. They regularly engage in dialogues with peers and authorities to fetch their rights however, the problem arises when such authorities are uncooperative and show a lack of accountability.

The accountability of college administration isn’t limited to finances but also extends to the quality of education, teaching standards and other factors due to which a student joins the college. Since the court cannot be approached for all big and small issues, the legitimate demands and requirements of the students are left unheard. 

I am not saying that students are the only ones affected. Teaching and administrative staff is also harassed but often students suffer a greater loss, both financially and academically. It is expected of colleges and universities to treat students like the humans they are and take into consideration their valid arguments rather than sidelining them by ignorance and negligence.

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This post is tagged under: college, undergraduate students, students, university, vulnerable students, fees, fee hike, exams, exams during pandemic, indraprastha university, IPU, administration, college administration

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