HIGH RANKING INSTITUTE MAY NOT TRANSLATE TO A WELL EDUCATED YOU!

-Akshita Gogia

As stated by the great American leader Abraham Lincoln-“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”

University rankings have always proved popular, both among prospective and current student. There is nothing like a successful ranking to bring out loyalty to an institution.
However, with so many rankings out there, how on earth are you supposed to choose which one to use? For alumni, the answer is simple – clearly the ranking that displays the highly reputed university. But for prospective students, the answer is “Reputation”.

It is suffice to say that what matters is the gist and not just the frame. Gone are the days when everyone competed for the same measures of success. Some exist with the main motive of spreading and enhancing knowledge while some work merely on augmenting the mark and fame. Formerly spreading knowledge was not a business thing as it has become now. What was important to people was the book and not it’s cover! As it is said “time changes everything” is exactly what has happened. People nowadays run after reputation, fame and goodwill ignoring what is important. “At this point I have completed only one semester but already I am impressed by the highly reputed university that I am a part of and I am not worried as my university guarantees 100% job placements”-stated by a student of a “reputed” university. Universities too have now become reputation minded. Many cases have come up validating the fact that university would go to any extent to save it’s reputation even if a life is at stake. The rat race has made every single man and the institute go blind after wealth and success. It is all because of the cutthroat competition that money matters more than lives now. Pushing aside the value of people’s lives won’t do any good to the society or to the reputation of the business. Apparently this would harm the goodwill of the organization some way or the other.

The reputation of a business is essential to its survival. The main motto behind maintaining the mark and fame of the business is determination and preservance. If a university has a good reputation in the world of knowledge, students would automatically get attracted towards the more promising one. Aspects like practical knowledge, scholarship offers, 100% job placements are some of the key determinants that play an important part in hypnotizing the students. Universities that offer hostel facilities need to promise all-embracing safety and concern in all matters. Parents are generally more concerned towards the safety of girls. But damningly by all accounts it comes out that the universities fail to keep their promise. Every now and then we get to notice updates regarding student suicide, molestation, harassment, protests against some issue etc but ignoring all these something that is always on top in the university management’s mind is nothing but it’s reputation. When it comes to preserving the goodwill, universities don’t consider all the upraised issues and would focus on saving the reputation instead. Even now political fights are going on in some universities which are suppressed and hidden in the name and fame of the university. And most of the times these cases are murdered before it reaches the people. This is because universities are more linked with their reputation rather than the lives and justice to the people.

People go blind ignoring the fact that getting into a university is a life thing which can either make or break their career. There are around 23 fake universities and 279 such technical institutes in India which fake their identity and are not approved by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). But still there are around a hundred thousand people who opt for these universities because they are quite inexpensive. Not only this people rush to such universities because admission process is also easy. These universities play with the lives of the students by faking their reputation or even the identity. Academic reputation has become the third most cited reason students opt not to take up a place they are offered, behind course content and distance from home. Prior to 2010, students put factors such as social life and unrealistic entry requirements higher than an institution’s standing. But on the contrary, a university’s reputation is more important than the quality of teaching it offers if graduates want to find work. It is important for the university to be renowned in order to improve their employment prospects post-graduation. In actual fact what should really matter while recruiting a person should be his/her intellect and knowledge rather than giving preference to which university he/she is from. Considering reputation as a step of growth is totally alright but risking someone’s career for that is unacceptable.

Whatever the issue may be, there’s always a solution to it! It is quite important for the system to have a good reputation but maintaining it at the cost of life won’t do any good. The universities should be autonomous and should be capable to run without any government support and interference. In that way they can take decisions which are good for the university as well as the growth of the students. Moreover academic excellence should also be promoted and better ways of teaching should be adopted. Emphasis should be laid more on practical knowledge rather than focusing on cramming the textual parts. “KNOWLEDGE IS POWER”, says it all!

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