PUSHPAL DEY PROFESSIONAL

(To read personal testimonials and opinion pieces from faculty, alumni, staff and current students regarding the significance of the admission process, visit ) First-person accounts of how the erstwhile admissions process created equality of opportunity and access for students from across a range of social and educational backgrounds have poured in from Jadavpur alumni since yesterday ().

PUSHPAL DEY PROFESSIONAL

The rich and diverse professional accomplishments of Jadavpur University alumni – in art, academia, film, entrepreneurship, publishing, writing, advertising and many other fields – constitute a further testament to the success of these departments in scouting and honing talent. Admissions based on Board exam scores would have never enabled students from varied cultural, class and economic backgrounds to be trained in the humanities by the best minds in the country. Many of us would have never made it to the top-ranked Arts departments in the country had we been judged solely on the basis of our marks in school-leaving examinations. The entrance examination has enabled these departments to gain talented students year after year. The entrance examinations test students for their interest in literature, history, philosophy and arts, their ability to think independently about texts, and their commitment to understanding the world around them using the skills of reasoning and speculation, the theoretical and methodological capital furnished by the humanities. No weightage is given to Board examination marks because the Boards’ prescribed methods of arts education and evaluation simply do not match those of tertiary education in the humanities. The tradition of the entrance examination, in which thousands of students participate every year, has ensured that the Faculty of Arts continues its legacy of academic excellence. For the last forty years, teachers have carefully prepared question papers and rigorously evaluated the answers in order to admit the candidates that they deem fit. Several departments of the Jadavpur Arts Faculty annually conduct their own entrance examinations. We, the alumni of Jadavpur University, unequivocally condemn the decision of the authorities to not conduct entrance examinations for admission to the university’s Bachelor of Arts programme. Thos who who wish to sign in solidarity with Jadavpur University teachers, students and staff can do so here. Over 5075 people have signed the petition at last count. There is also a petition that has been put up for those wanting to sign. Following is a statement of Jadavpur University alumni on the current controversy around the scrapping of the entrance examination by the university authorities.

Pushpal dey