Us College Admission Scandal: Is India's Meritocracy Based Approach Better?

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by Greenbay, Mar 25, 2019.

  1. Anusha2917

    Anusha2917 IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    2,575
    Likes Received:
    7,022
    Trophy Points:
    408
    Gender:
    Female
    Yes Afresh. I did hear that. Not read much though. It's a good move.. But can caste based reservation be abolished ? That's the point.
     
    Afresh likes this.
  2. shravs3

    shravs3 IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    3,207
    Likes Received:
    5,845
    Trophy Points:
    425
    Gender:
    Female
    Wish education is for deserved instead of reserved. And I’m sure our politicians wouldn’t do anything about it.
    These days there is more competition and more burden among students. Can’t imagine the pressure, unreserved students go through
     
  3. Greenbay

    Greenbay Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    389
    Likes Received:
    894
    Trophy Points:
    173
    Gender:
    Male
    Caste based reservation is not going to go away soon because the marginalized sector that needs to be uplifted still lingers in large number in rural India. Limiting the reservation to just 2 generations is a good measure.

    Abuse of any good law exists everywhere as human’s inherent greedy nature is hard to overcome. That said, do the abusers outweigh lot more than the actual beneficiaries?

    Coming back to US model, most of the elite colleges have legacy seats, alumni connections, and seats to kins of very high donors. And this scandal shows that even old fashioned cheating of faking SAT, faking athletic credentials also exists. Having very large number of universities didn’t help if the argument here is India doesn’t have right amount of supply/demand.
     
    Thyagarajan, Amica and Sunshine04 like this.
  4. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    12,481
    Likes Received:
    30,224
    Trophy Points:
    540
    Gender:
    Female
    This has turned into a reservations are good/bad and needed/not-needed discussion. And all the usual arguments being presented on both sides.

    I sometimes wonder about the parents in India who cannot afford private colleges for their children, and see their deserving child lose out to a starkly less academically bright reserved category child. How many millions of such parents are there and do they support the reservation system as it exists.

    In any reservations discussion, I am tempted to ask this direct question to supporters of reservation that informally accepted protocol of debate doesn't allow: You support reservation, you say it is needed, you say 72 years on, it is still needed. You say there cannot be an end date for such a reform. If you saw your child lose out on a seat and your resources could not get her an equivalent seat, your child has to settle for ordinary B.Sc, would you still be as vociferous in your support of reservations?

    If yes, respect! That is sacrifice.
     
    Thyagarajan, Afresh and Sunshine04 like this.
  5. Greenbay

    Greenbay Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    389
    Likes Received:
    894
    Trophy Points:
    173
    Gender:
    Male
    I tried to steer back to discuss US admissions sans reservation but you are not helping from your first reply :)

    Compared to so many here, my upbringing has been from economically disadvantaged strata while belonging to so called 'forward' caste.

    How many of you who have chosen to participate in this discussion have worked in other's homes to assist in their cooking, make their snacks, stitch their clothes, help in their moving, help in their weddings and celebrations to do heavy lifting but yet asked to sit in a separate area for snacks/tea? If you have, do you still have grievances about reservations? If yes, can you please articulate your reasoning? I am interested to know.
     
    suasin, Thyagarajan and jillcastle like this.
  6. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    12,481
    Likes Received:
    30,224
    Trophy Points:
    540
    Gender:
    Female
    How much do you know about the economic status of "so many here" when they were growing up? I know about myself and another member who posts often. Loves and indulges in expensive silks now. Growing up, her mother had 3 sarees at a time. The disadvantage for her, me and many like us was enough. Hope that sets right the notion that only you experienced the level of economic disadvantage that you did in your upbringing.

    As a child, I took a hindalium vessel to a neighbor's house, stood by their waist-high gate, rested my elbows on the cane gate, held out the vessel and asked for cooked white rice. They said they didn't have any left. To school, I wore factory shoes that looked like boy shoes. Children including some teachers used to point at them and laugh. To prepare for college entrance exam at zero cost, I had to borrow handwritten notes from a senior who was our neighbor. He used to grope me before and after that. Grope as in put his arm around my shoulder and squeeze my budding breasts, alternating from the left and right shoulder. I could continue and compile a list that will run long, but a comparison of whose childhood was bleaker is not my idea of fun or discussion.

    I made it fine by grit and luck. Many of my classmates and childhood friends did not. I still have grievances about reservations. The #1 grievance being how can such a system be allowed to run for decades without a reliable measure of its effectiveness happening alongside?
     
  7. Sunshine04

    Sunshine04 Platinum IL'ite

    Messages:
    2,117
    Likes Received:
    2,686
    Trophy Points:
    283
    Gender:
    Female
    Yes ,above mentioned is only about sc st. Why do minorities need reservations ??
    They are also Indian citizens. Why give them extra services. If I remember correctly, no other country gives reservations for minorities
     
  8. Sunshine04

    Sunshine04 Platinum IL'ite

    Messages:
    2,117
    Likes Received:
    2,686
    Trophy Points:
    283
    Gender:
    Female
    Manual scavengers need reservations.
    But not sure if they are even getting benefited from reservations.
    Government has to look into all these at the ground level.
    Mostly reservations are misused in our country
     
  9. GeetaKashyap

    GeetaKashyap IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    3,921
    Likes Received:
    9,220
    Trophy Points:
    460
    Gender:
    Female
    GB,
    This post is under General discussion. So, many of us picked on points relevant to us. Maybe you should have specified only people with international/elite/USA exposure could participate. Then those without these (practical) exposures would not have participated.

    The discussion has derailed totally with your above statement and you have moved away from your stated purpose of the thread.
     
  10. Greenbay

    Greenbay Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    389
    Likes Received:
    894
    Trophy Points:
    173
    Gender:
    Male
    This discussion is not meant for fun. Subject is depressing as many of the practices, higher institutes of learning engage to steal the opportunities for many deserved, is lotheworthy.

    Many of us who have reached economic stability have made it fine through grit and luck. So yours or mine or countless others success stories shows human endurance but once we cross those years of hardship, instead of bitterness,should instill hope and compassion for the people who could succeed if given an opportunity.
    -------------------------------------------------------------

    Reservation is akin to building dams and reservoirs or improving an infrastructure. Historically, people have settled in river banks reaping the benefit of year around water supply. So once govt. decides to build a reservoir or a dam, their lives will be affected for no fault of theirs. They absolutely didn't have any role in the hardship of people who didn't have water all these years but govt. has a role to play to alleviate the pain of millions, so decides to build dam anyway. Affected people have to either relocate to a place of their choice or govt. provided alternatives. But once the dam is complete, even though the whole river is not at their service like earlier, but they too are assured of drinking water even in lean rain years.

    People who reap benefits from reservation are like people who didn't have access to drinking water all those years. Contractors who make money in dam building by using less quality construction material or who bribe people to get their tender passed are people who continue to use reservation even after their needs are met.

    Reservation was not meant for dividing people against people but to take forward the whole population irrespective of their historical advantages or disadvantages. Will there be abusers? Absolutely but as long as the benefited outweigh abusers, system is a success in my view.
     
    Thyagarajan likes this.

Share This Page