KOCHI: A Facebook post by Rakesh Kumar Pandey, professor of physics at Kirori Mal College affiliated to the University of Delhi, has made students who had applied and got admission to various colleges in the national capital apprehensive. Many students are having second thoughts about joining, while some have decided to take the bull by the horns and join the courses.
“Their anger can’t be justified,” said a student who is all set to join a college in Delhi. “This time, it’s just not the state board students who have scored 100 per cent marks. The CBSE students too have scored an awful lot of marks. So why target us alone?” said the student, who has opted for BA History.
Another student, who opted for BA Economics, said, “The fact that such a large number of students from Kerala are joining various courses in colleges affiliated to Delhi University is a blessing. The thought of having someone from our home state in hostels and classroom is reassuring. However, it also has a negative fallout. A sizeable number of Malayali students might make local (native) students insecure and this might lead to resentment against us.”
According to the student, when it comes to enrolling in colleges, only a few have made up their mind while others are waiting for better options. “This is the first cut-off and if these students were to get into better colleges in Delhi, they will join them,” said the student. The student said, “How can they say that only the Kerala state board awards a lot of marks to students? I have a friend from Rajasthan state board. According to them, a large number of students from the board also scored 100 per cent marks. So why target students from Kerala alone?”
But, students, who recently passed out from colleges in Delhi, said that this is not a new development.
“The resentment has been brewing for some time now,” said a student, who finished her final year History course from the prestigious Miranda House. According to a student, who had scored 98.75 per cent in Plus Two examinations, the feeling among local students and also the teachers is that Malayalis secure good marks through fraudulent means.
“Parochialism is rampant. I had the bad experience of getting targeted in class by local students and teachers, besides being frisked rather rudely before exams. The teachers feel that we score marks through dishonest means. They don’t take into consideration the fact that we put in a lot of hard work,” added the student.
Second thoughts
Many students are having second thoughts about joining the colleges in the capital, while some have decided to take the bull by the horns and join the courses