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Salient. Official Newspaper of Victoria University of Wellington Students Association. Vol 40 No. 20. August 8 1977

On University

page 6

On University

This article appeared in the 1975/76 Orientation Handbook of the University of Singapore Students Union, It is an incisive comment on students, universities and society in general. It applies largely to 3rd World countries but contains many truths about university life in New Zealand.

On going to University

There may be many reasons for a student to go to University, but they all fall in the following categories : Under the social and family pressure, or seeking personal goals. In this society, university students enjoy higher honour and prestige than the rest of their contemporaries. We hear VIP's emphasize again and again that university students are the future leaders of the country and cream of the society. In the eyes of ordinary people, university students are knowledge people and should have some sorts of privileges over others. Therefore, university has become a means to seek higher position in the society.

It is obvious that honour and positions are interrelated with money. Those who have a lot of money must enjoy a higher position. Conversely, honour and higher position facilitates one to make more money, most firms and industries take in students with better qualifications and degrees, regardless of their ability and knowledge. University enables one to make big money, to live a comfortable life and become the so called 'middle class'. It is on this materialistic basis that a corresponding economic position arises. Therefore, a university degree is of great benefit to people in general.

In families, most parents hope that their children will grow up rich and have a high position in society so that they may also benefit from the fame and wealth given to their sons or daughters. This constitutes the family pressure. It is therefore understandable why our parents work hard in order to send us to university.

The public usually regards university students as the knowledge specialists. Let us see how true it is. Indeed, the curriculum of our university is broad, profound and is is reaching international level (otherwise our degrees will not be recognised internationally). There is a lot for students to study.

Examinations

Under the examination system, it is impossible for a student to know everything specified in the syllabus due to the limitation imposed by one's ability and mental power. Moreover time is very limited too. During examinations, even one who knows a lot is unable to express all he knows in such a limited time. The secret to passing exams is to spot questions. The trick is to study only the subject which has been repeatedly emphasised in the lectures and skip those not likely to come out in the exam.

Photo of an empty lecture theatre

Under the present situation, students study for the sake of passing exams, so they won't do uneccessary reading which has nothing to do with the exam. Even the related materials they study are easily forgotten once the exam is over. This is because most of the things studied are abstract, impractical theories which have only a very vague relation with the real world. We do not know how to put theories into practice. So the exam system only trains the students how to take down everything on the blackboard, memorising them and hand them back to the lecturers during exam. This allows no development of creativity, analysing power of students.

The teaching methods of the lecturers is worth mentioning. Some lecturers have been using the same old lecture notes over and again again for more than ten years without having added or deleted a word from them Some lecturers would recommend lists of useless books to students but never mention the one he prepared his lecture notes from.

Let us ponder for a while. Is this system going to give students any real knowledge ? Is it training one to be real specialist ? A student may go to varsity for personal reasons. It is not easy for a secondary school leaver to find a job after Form Six. So university seems to be the only place to go. There are some, though very few, who come to varsity out of their interest in a certain filed and some want to become doctors, engineers, etc.

The Aim of a University Student

Students used to complain that university life is dull and boring. Some even described it as 3-L culture, i.e. lecture, lunch, and library. As a matter of fact, other than going to lecture, library and cafeteria in the university, a student cannot do anything else. The work-load is heavy, the final exam is tough, and gauges the standard of a stud-end in three hours while the student put in his whole years effort. This determines whether he can proceed to the higher stage next year. Examinations are most concerning and important affairs for students. This is why when the second semester comes, ever student struggles hard, swotting day and night as if he is meeting a strong enemy. By [unclear: thenl] all he cares are lecture notes and text books only.

Under this depressed and dull atmosphere, some frustrated students are forced to group together, talking, watching pictures, playing cards, billards or even gamble. There are some "lone-rangers" in the varsity who come to varsity to attend lectures only. Occasionally you may find them in the library when emergencies come. They never stay in the campus for other purposes, (it look as if they can stay out of the competition among students). They have no communication with their fellow students. In fact they are involved in the competition too, for competition in the varsity is so keen and tough that no one can escape it. Luckily there are not many 'lone-rangers' in the campus.

Generally speaking, students do not care much about their fellow students. They greet one another when they meet but most of the time the greetings do not mean anything at all. They are very artificial and mechanical. One would suspect if students are encouraged to be selfish under the exam system. For example, some hide away good texts for their own use and some would not lend their lecture notes to others.

If the relations among students are bad, the relations between lecturers and students are even worse — a very wide gap between two distinct 'classes'. The dining hall for lecturers are separated from that for students. The only time students meet the lecturers is when in lecture hall, while during other times they never see one another.

In the past two years our Union (University of Singapore Students Union — Ed) has gone through innumerable barriers to grow healthier than the previous three or four years. The Union is becoming more concerned about the welfare of students, more aware of our social problems and world affairs. But still many students show apathy in the Union activities. Nobody can blame them for their apathy. It is this education system that moulds the students into this shape which teaches students egoism. In addition, oppression and intimidation from the authority frightens students away from many activities. Thus the 'epidemic' called apathy spreads among many students in the varsity. The students become very self-centred and show no interest in anything other than studies.

Previously, Union fees were compulsory. The University used to collect it on the Union's behalf. But after all the many incidents happened last year, more and more awakened students appeared. The authority becomes very uncooperative and deliberately separated out the Union fees from the tuition fee, making Union fees voluntary. The authority hopes to murder our Union through financial means. Anyway, this failed to cripple our Union. To counter this the management committee managed to collect funds by putting on film shows. Due to the joint efforts of many students, our Union has grown stronger than ever.

In our society, students or even the lecturers have no right to question the administration of the university. Students have no say in the affairs affecting themselves such as change in curriculim, change in system ; no part in decision making. We are living in the Ivory Tower. We are being isolated from the real world and therefore unable to understand the society. Many of us are uninterested in what is happening around us ; we do not understand what is happening in other parts of the world. What we know is to study for the exam, to struggle for the degree, to earn big money. This is the present university 'life'.

What is Causing the Present Situation?

If University life is not as good as what we have imagined, then one cannot help asking why is it that university life is so dull and lifeless ? Here goes the analysis:

We are living in a world of no political freedom ; a student must obtain a 'Certificate of Suitability' to enter the university. After entering the university, he is not allowed to say what he feels for fear that the ever present 'agent' might jeopardize his 'future'. The 'safest' way is to shut up and say nothing, to hear nothing, and be a 100% bookworm. This has become a way of life. There are many students who have never experienced community life before and do not understand how meaningful is this way of life. They feel that studying hard for the exam is the only goal of university studies. So they keep themselves away from all the activities taking place in the campus. Although they are depressed, they like to give reasons like 'there will be more fun after graduation', to comfort themselves. The present education system (more precisely examination system because it only turns out experts in sitting examinations) provides many incentives for the "good" students. Excessive emphasis is placed on results. Exams grade students into different categories; even honours degrees are divided into classes. Intentional creation of very few 'Top Scholars' leads to the encouragement of individualism in each student. So everybody should only care about his own study, his exam and nothing else.

What we study in the university does not tell us how to care for the development and progress of our society, to serve the masses and to work for the betterment of the poor. On the contrary, what we learn is how to control our people, how to earn more money for the rich, how to exploit the ordinary people.

Many students believe that university life is a component of all the activities of our society. We cannot isolate the university life from the society. The type of university life is determined by the university system and thus by the social system. It is therefore justified to say that if we find some fault in the university system, the root cause must be in the social system.

How to Change University Life for the Better

It is not just to understand the problem existing in university life. We have to do something to enrich our university life. Some students have the following suggestions : -

Drawing of a meat mincer symbolising the education system

a.Take the initiative to join activities on the campus. Widen our circle of life, abandon the individualistic and isolated way of life. Join in the community life.
b.Take up sports and games. Keep ourselves physically fit so that we can serve the society well after leaving varsity. The main aims of competition should be to meet more friends, establish good relations with the fellow students.
c.Care about the development of our society. Read more informative magazines. Try to understand our society, our people and understand what is happening around us.
d.Come out of the Ivory Tower to meet all sorts of people in the society. Understand their lives and learn from them.
e.Take part in the social work, manual labouring, experience the working life, share the suffering with the poor.
f.Discuss with friends about the meaning of life. This may increase our analytical power and ability to make decisions.
g.Establish good relationships among students, help others whenever possible in study and in many other areas.
h.Pursue truth, real knowledge, not certifcate or degree. But we have to be practical. It is good to get a pass but a good result does not really mean that the students know a lot.
i.Break down the language barrier between different races. Learn more languages so that you can communicate better with students of other races.
j.We must not be selfish because it is not good to the society.
k.Learn something that is useful to the society. Relate our study to the need of the society. Do not spend too much time in abstract, useless theories.
l.We must take every opportunity to voice out when necessary. We have the duty to care for the happenings in the society for we are one element ot it.