Tuesday, July 29, 2008

But for a moment

She had surpassed the walls of sanity.
Her heart feeling free like a cub
surrounded by love as she wanted it.
She dwelled in the insanity of freedom.

Her walk defined the pride in her decision,
her smile composed of millions of stars together.
Her passion for the moment defied rules,
she had counted nights in the loneliness.

Meddling with the grass leafs, she thought
'was it really worth a fight', 'for the death
of shattered dreams', 'for the dark nights
spent under the endless sadness?'

Now that the doubts wore mask of history,
she flew like an eagle, ready to reach
to the limits, to celebrate something called life,
to enjoy the new day under the blue sky.

The waters were clear again and so was her mind.
The lines were beautiful and so very pure.
The grains were waiting for a dusk.
It was almost there, but for a moment!!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Got the numbers?

The way education system in Maharashtra is changing I can only empathize with the maximum number of students. Currently Maharashtra State Board came up with a policy of normalising the scores of its students to make them equally competitive with the ICSE and CBSE students. I say its a good policy for the students of State Board who were suffering otherwise. But I also have some doubts about this policy.

1. Majority-ignored: With normalisation of scores, number of students who have passed the exams have improved. Nothing bad you will say. But here's the catch. The students who have scored more than 85% has increased drastically. With the nominal increase in number of seats the college are facing an unprecedented issue of admitting students. Students in Mumbai having less than 85% are waking to a nightmare of 'No-Seats-Available'. This competition is unending. If the students with more than 90% cannot get into their choice of college what about the majority? This problem wasn't thought of while devising the policy? If it was what is the solution?

2. 70-30% reservation: This is a fresh course of concern for students. If the students this year are breathing freely for this policy won't be introduced this year think of future batches. This policy states that 70% of the total seats will be available for students from that district only. So if I hail from some part of Mumbai which has less number of colleges I will compete in 30% bracket with the majority of students like me in other districts. Thus, I cannot hope for getting an admission in Pune also since I will fall in the 30% bracket, an alternative option.

The filtering policy applied in the 70-30 policy is completely mind boggling. This way the future generation is not only pressurised to perform from the age when they should rather explore but also feel the threat of left stranded in this majorly education based economy. Will this or wont this lead to brain drain?

PS: Feel free to drop your comments on this future-sensitive topic.