Only syllabus, nothing else...

Students don’t bother about the social issues of the country unless they directly affect them

Ask today’s students about the day-to-day happenings in the country and you will see a blank expression on their faces. If you ask them who the speaker of the Lok Sabha is, they will look at you as if they have been asked about supersymmetric quantum mechanics! Why is it that most students today do not pay much attention to the present situation of the society and lack knowledge of social responsibility? Metrolife finds out.
 
Various reasons can be cited for this attitude of the youngsters. Students are of the opinion that they don’t have to pay attention to the social issues of the country unless they directly affect them. Mohammad Mudassir, an engineering student, prefers to know more about entertainment than the current situations in the country.

“I keep myself updated about the local issues only when they are highly projected in the media — for instance, the Anna Hazare movement. Nobody will care to know about the names of the politicians unless it directly affects their life,” he says.

Similarly, Pooja Chatlani, a young professional, says, “The students these days don’t realise why it is important for them to keep themselves updated. By knowing more about entertainment, they can bond with friends and pass time.”

Rishi Sabhaya, a student, feels colleges should arrange more programmes related to current topics.

 “Today’s youngsters get involved in activities which interest them. They don’t care much about politics because there are no related activities happening in schools or colleges,” he says.

Shravan Yalmoor, another student, says people don’t like to contemplate on heavy issues.

 “It is a matter of choice. Entertainment and sports are light topics whereas political issues require a lot of thought. That’s why they wouldn’t want to associate themselves with those topics,” he says.

However, professors are of a different view. Jayant PA, assistant professor of political science at St Joseph’s College of Arts and Science, says students can make a visible change to the society if they learn about the basic political and social matters. “Young generation lacks social commitment and is not politically conscious. It is important for these students to know about their social responsibilities and rights,” he says.

 He is of the opinion that youngsters have been provided with a plethora of options to earn a lot of money and achieve a good social status. But if they take their time out to learn about the social conditions, they can make a different in at least a small section of the society.

“How is learning management or engineering going to help students make a change in the society?” he asks.

But Y S Kumaraswamy, a professor in the MCA department of Dayananda Sagar Institutions, says that students limit themselves to obtaining more marks and searching for a job which will give them a good salary package. He says that even their personality is evaluated on the basis of their marks sheet and skills in that particular area.

“Students don’t want to learn about anything other than their syllabus. What makes the situation worse is that these students look out for shortcuts, be it regarding studies or earning money. Their mind focusses only on business, marketing and IT,” Kumaraswamy says.

Knowing more about civic and social issues is not a painstaking activity. It is only an area of knowledge which will help youngsters bring a change in the society —
politically, socially and economically.