Pre-university training and the
issue of discipline
We revert to the issue
of the prospects of our youth in view of the urgency of the need
to create for them a better tomorrow.
The country is having yet another assurance from the
authorities that ragging will be eliminated from our university
campuses and there is no doubt that this vital item of news
would be welcomed hugely by all right-thinking sections. This
time around we are having this reassurance from no less a person
than Higher Education Minister S B Dissanayake and all that we
could say is that he would be having the fullest backing of all
civilized sections of society in this long-overdue initiative.
The Higher Education Minister�s reassurance comes at a time
when the senior academic staff of our universities are being
called upon by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to put country above
self-interest and we hope that these vital pronouncements would
have the effect of gearing our institutions of higher learning
in the direction of socially-responsible conduct and
conscientiousness. The state�s position with regard to salary
increments and the like has been clarified to the Dons and all
responsible sections would be looking forward to value-oriented
conduct on the part of our academic staff from now on.
We are obliged to point out that an attempt on the part of
sections of our university academic staff to take on the state
in a confrontational fashion on issues facing them, is bound to
have very disquieting spill-over effects on the respective
student communities and we take this opportunity to call upon
our Dons to refrain from modes of conduct which would not prove
exemplary. This is on account of the fact that much cannot be
expected of our undergraduates, in terms of right conduct, if
their teachers are not seen as conforming to the highest
standards of good conduct.
Coming back to ragging, we do hope that no stone would be
left unturned in the search for remedial action against the
lingering menace. We know for a fact that all undergraduates are
required to submit a formal undertaking that they would refrain
from ragging but the evil is apparently continuing unabated. In
fact, the problem is reportedly taking on newer and more
disturbing forms with certain freshers now taking it on
themselves to behave in an abusive fashion towards their own
incoming colleagues to campus. This amounts to standing the
general pattern in ragging on its head.
What this proves is that the evil of ragging is continuing
and a bold and systematic effort must be made by the state to
stamp out the wasting disease from our midst.
Practical problems are bound to crop-up in carrying out these
initiatives but these should not be made excuses to do nothing
or little in the face of this problem. We wish to emphasize that
the university authorities should not hesitate to carry out the
maximum punitive measures permissible in these circumstances, on
undergraduates who violate their formal undertakings with regard
to ragging.
It must be also considered that erring undergraduates, in the
ragging context, do not usually act on their own. They may be
tied-up with students� unions which are in turn in league with
political forces which are hostile towards the state. Here too,
some complex questions may need to be faced, but the government
has no choice but to govern and the latter is obliged to use all
the legitimate means at its command to neutralize these hostile
elements. Politics per se is not, of course, objectionable but
destructive politics bode ill for all, and this brand of
politics must be shown the door.
Besides the state and university authorities, the
undergraduate community too is obliged to take some enlightened
initiatives towards ending this scourge of ragging. As has been
often observed, ragging is resorted to by a minority of
undergraduates. It is most rampant in the Arts faculties and it
could be hypothesized that a sense of frustration among these
students about their life prospects could be impelling them to
vent their spleen, so to speak, on their new colleagues.
Providing hope about the future to these erring students is
the most immediate need but the majority of the undergraduates
who are peace-loving, need to take it on themselves to more
boldly and vigorously oppose ragging and convince their �rag
masters� of the foolish and counterproductive nature of their
behaviour. In other words, an anti-ragging movement among
undergraduates and others concerned, should take on steam and
strength.
Besides, the current pre-university training programmes being
conducted for our undergraduates need to be looked at more
closely. These three-week training programmes aim at ushering a
healthy mind in a healthy body, and could be considered windows
to the world, in that they prepare our youngsters for the rough
and tumble of the world outside. In fact, these training
sessions could enable them to take on the challenges within
universities and outside with greater confidence.
The question could be raised: if there are Scouts and Girl
Guides Movements which are already serving useful purposes, why
not these training camps, which are aimed at disciplining our
youth, mentally and physically? We would need to look at these
projects with the freshest of perspectives, if we are to
recognize their merits. |
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