Education standards across the country - not just in DU - have been falling for a while now and I know of many students who may have started their studies at the premier colleges in DU but have dropped out - disheartened by the quality of teaching - to finish their studies mostly overseas.
But of late, I have come across a number of students - both in North and South Campus - and what they have to tell me about the university's current state is both disheartening and in part alarming. I have to admit that what I am about to write is more anecdotal and I don't have concrete data for it but anyone who reads it will confirm that what I write here doesn't sound unfamiliar.
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I don't know if this is a reflection of the kind of competition today's generation faces but very few students look at graduation or higher studies as a means of gaining deeper knowledge and insight into a subject. Today when I speak to any young students they seem extraordinarily focused on pay packages. I'm not saying we opted for higher studies because we developed such deep interest in a subject but neither was there this single-minded obsession with salary packages. Colleges are chosen on one and only one criterion - the kind of campus placements they attract and the salaries on offer.
Campus placements are few and far between. Barring a handful of colleges - Stephen's, Hindu and SRCC in North Campus, and LSR and JMC in South Campus - most colleges fail to place a majority of students. A lack of jobs and options pushes thousands of students into a master's even if they are not particularly interested in the subject or lack the aptitude for it. As a friend's daughter who graduated this year from Gargi College with a bachelor's degree in economics put it: "There's nothing else to do so many of us are planning to do a post-graduation." So students tend to stray into higher studies rather than actively pursuing a subject.
Few students take their degrees with any seriousness. A large number of students manage to do jobs and internships (many unpaid) throughout their three years in college. Attendance is more required on paper and most students seem able to tackle the examinations even without attending classes. Unlike our time, when such internships were simply not available, students find this a better use of their time since competition for jobs after graduation is so intense. Teaching standards and quality is at best erratic - even at the best institutions. Although there are exceptions, commitment of teachers seems far lower than it used to be.
A huge and severe drug problem has developed in North Campus in particular. Drugs are pretty cheap and are widely available. Local paan shops and even small grocery shops peddle drugs of all kinds and their use - many in the form of synthetic pills - is rampant. At college festivals and concerts, you can smell hash and weed in the air. As one DU professor who teaches at Hansraj College told me, "Peer into the eyes of students and you will be able to discern the potency of what he or she is high on." This is in sharp contrast to 15-20 years ago when use of drugs was more the aberration than the norm.
So while the authorities definitely need to redefine admission criteria and move away from the Class 12 board results as the single deciding factor, they equally need to tackle some of these graver problems that have arisen. Else, they may find - as soon as viable private options grow - that there are actually less and less takers for an institution that has given the country some of its best leaders and thinkers.
I don't have all the answers or possible solutions but will attempt one in my next column. Meanwhile, I look forward to any ideas from you.