I have been wondering why I havent written about the education system through which I was steered through in my life. First things first...
This is my first blog. Hence, I expect it to be as amateurish as possible and apologize to those professional bloggers out there. Well, you could always write about what you do in day to day life but it is always just another day for a normal person like me. I decided to write about something more than personal, but did not know what to blog ....
I have always been aggrieved by the education system I grew up in and think the system I grew was not fair enough to all people. I hope to put in my thoughts that may sometimes hurt people, but then you could always be wrong in this world and then apologize later ;). That is the luxury of human life.
A brief introduction to the South Indian education system is necessary for people who dont have much of an idea. Well, every child starts with the normal schooling as any other in the world, but then, before you even join school, the child must know what caste he belongs to in a particular religion. Each of the umpteen religions in India is divided into one of Forward Caste(FC), Backward Caste(BC), Most Backward Caste(MBC) and so on..... So the child better know the particular caste coz it might help him in future... Oh! you better bribe a thousand government authorities to register yourself as a MBC candidate for reasons that will be evident as we go..... A person belonging to one of the backward castes is privileged to free education in any of the government schools in South India. Alas, the standard in the government schools is pathetic.. an understatement....Noone prefers to study in a government sponsored school...
well, to the advantages of registering yourself as a MBC, scheduled tribe or castes person....After you finish schooling and join a bachelor's degree in Engineering or Medicine....you can afford to get a lower score than one of those forward caste people(though you may be economically rich compared to the unfortunate forward caste person) and still study in one of the premier institutes in India. In Tamilnadu, as much as 695 is reserved for those privileged backward caste people!
hmmm.. now if you are a student belonging to one of the so called forward castes.. for reasons that you do not know... irrespective of whether yor are rich or poor ....you have to score the highest possible percentile to get to the same school as that of the BC person... wow ...does the FC person have to score higher because he intellectually superior to the BC person? No...is it coz the FC person is richer? No. Is it coz the fact 50 years ago the FC person's ancestors were supposedly richer and bullied the BC person's ancestors? I do not think so.... we live in a world where convergence seems to be the buzz word and yet.... there are infinite discrepancies in south India on the basis of the single most powerful word "CASTE".
Agreed ... the FC person somehow completes his education and wants to work for the government. Oh no... you need the caste again... You think you made a mistake by not registering yourself as a BC long before.....
Well.. the story continues... If you have read until this point...I am privileged...As one persons put it ... musings of a mundane person....
