http://www.nlsquirks.in/falling-standards-a-self-fulfilling-prophecy/ Wed, 27 Feb 2019 12:09:32 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.10 http://www.nlsquirks.in/falling-standards-a-self-fulfilling-prophecy/#comment-10 Sat, 28 Nov 2015 23:09:08 +0000 https://nlsquirks.wordpress.com/?p=81#comment-10 I am afraid that the authors of this comment have missed the woods for the trees. At least from the perspective of informed alumni, the core of the ‘falling standards’ critique is directed against the quality of administration (especially the present Vice-Chancellor) as well as classroom teaching (Insert the names of the concerned faculty members here). Whether or not the quality of incoming students is improving or declining on a year-to-year basis is a completely different issue which requires a deeper discussion on many related questions. It would be imprudent to make comparative claims about the abilities of students from different periods unless someone has actually examined such a broad sample. It is like saying that none of the current batsman can be as good as Sir Donald Bradman, without having seen him play from close quarters under very different rules and conditions. So the claim that the capacities of incoming students is declining is a counterfactual one at best. The more important questions to ask are – How are we defining academic excellence? Surely, it cannot be reduced to transient joys such as those derived from winning moot courts or getting a pat in the back for organising student activities and conferences. Is NLSIU doing enough to become a cradle of intellectual growth and civic engagement as opposed to merely serving as an assembly line for organised capital? At the individual level, can we accept that higher education is meant to be a complex process that often involves some initial discomfort and continuous self-scrutiny? Life is more like a game of snakes and ladders rather than a consistent upward climb. Higher education should prepare you for these vicissitudes rather than insulating you from them.

]]> http://www.nlsquirks.in/falling-standards-a-self-fulfilling-prophecy/#comment-9 Tue, 29 Sep 2015 14:51:54 +0000 https://nlsquirks.wordpress.com/?p=81#comment-9 Lol no

]]> http://www.nlsquirks.in/falling-standards-a-self-fulfilling-prophecy/#comment-8 Tue, 29 Sep 2015 04:11:23 +0000 https://nlsquirks.wordpress.com/?p=81#comment-8 This was perhaps the best article in the last issue of Quirk. Very insightful.

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