The hallowed portals of these institutions have produced a galaxy of renowned administrators, scientists and social workers.
Today though, two once-celebrated campuses in the city, Presidency College and Pachaiyappa’s College, are struggling to keep their reputation intact, even as one of them is in the limelight every few days for acts of violence.
Most recently, four students were arrested from Pachiayappa’s for stoning an MTC bus, and 30 from Presidency for violence. Over the last six months, there have been more than 23 instances of student violence reported from these campuses, and at least 50 arrests in both.
Take the case of Presidency College. Principal R. Sabanayagam who has been teaching geology in the college for 17 years, is distraught. “Yesterday, I rushed to the canteen to catch a group of 25 students who had come drunk. None of the teachers who accompanied me there knew the students, nor did the students did not show the slightest remorse or respect for us. While they are definitely undisciplined, I see a lack of involvement in some teachers too.”
From 2008, the college has not had a permanent principal, and teachers believe that was when the situation went out of control. “There was no check on indiscipline then and after that, it has been impossible to restore order,” says Sabanayagam.
Six ‘peace and discipline’ committees have been initiated, 10 council meetings conducted in the last three months but the situation turns violent frequently.
Most times, it is the obsession with bus routes that starts brawls. Avadi, Adyar, Royapuram, Anna Nagar and Tambaram have their gangs who travel together, singing, merry-making in the respective buses. Songs with lyrics defaming other gangs and colleges are penned and that often leads to brawls. During elections, it worsens when they divide themselves based on bus routes.
Students wearing t-shirts are banned from entering the campus, and so are those who come without reading material or ID cards. “Drop-outs from the college and students from other colleges often turn up here. “They get current students part-time jobs in party offices, companies and act as money lenders. So students like to depend on them,” says a senior professor.
A student, Anbarasan says, “We have only sports and NSS here and very few students are involved in them. The rest are into the bus route brawls. A few of them are very good singers and should be roped into cultural activities which are never held here.”
Libraries in departments are kept closed fearing students might vandalise books, while toilets and hostels call for maintenance, and there is only one water tank in the college supplying drinking water.
“The focus is so much on controlling violence that other work is unthinkable. Every other day we ask students to surrender hidden knives or chains,” as if they are bits of paper to cheat with,” says the Prof. Sabanayagam.
If elections and campaigning along bus routes is a major reason for violence at Presidency, it is the absence of a student body that is a cause of concern at Pachiyappa’s College.
It has been over 15 years since the student body at the historic college was dissolved after the directorate of college education disbanded the student union and ruled that the college would never again have one.
“That was when student leaders were getting powerful and planning attacks. The ratio of good students to bad students then was 80 to 20. Now good, sincere students are only a handful here,” said a senior professor. Pachaiyappa’s College is the alma mater of two Chief Ministers and many leading politicians of the Dravidian movement.
“Drinking, gambling, every vice is present here, despite strict norms being introduced,” says a senior professor here.
“Some weeks ago, some people came here saying they wanted to make a film on bus routes. We need to first break this notion that students in these colleges have to indulge in certain activities. They also need professional counselling,” he adds.
Keywords: Presidency College, Pachaiyappa’s College, Chennai colleges
At one time, probably in 50s and 60s, the Presidency was known as "Lords of Presidency". Christian College as "Gentlemen of Christian"
and Layola College as "Slaves of Layola" and Pachiappas College as
"Rowdies of Pachiappas". I do not know how many people know this. But, we see nowadays, most of the colleges go with the name title as that Pachiappas of yesteryears. I only wish the Students and the Teachers form a Special Committee to bring back the glorious days of late 40s and early 50s. I am not against any Student/Teacher/College. For, I too was a student at one stage in early 60s.
I wish Tamilnadu earns that olden days title Oxford of Tamilnadu in all the districts.
No point in just having strict rules in colleges. What is being done to implement them? And what is the cost for breaking rules? Unless there is fear of retribution people will do as they please in the name of their right to freedom of expression. As the Tamil saying goes a good cow needs only one branding)... the trouble is that the law does not brandish the perpetrators even once.
The quality of early childhood education is an important underlying problem for these situations. The quality of teaching talent in all levels of education has gone drastically down as well. The focus on prosperity by any means - brought in large scale by the globalization altered the focus and the future of our educational system and hence that of the students and people.
This type of institutes doesn’t deserve to exist. The Principal should
write to CM cell, and with the offices consent prepare modified and
stringent code of conduct for students and teachers. Within specific
deadline, ensure compliance or dismiss the student or teacher, and if
so happens that majority of students and teachers will be need to be
dismissed, dismiss all and close the college. It doesn’t deserve to be
in the business.
The main problem is with the students admission policy for various courses. The
so called reservation has eaten away the good lot. The teacher who tries to take
action on indisciplined students has to lose the management support for
sustaining his decision. The so called management( principal, lecturers etc) are
appointed not on merits but on on other vote bank factors. This is the price the
society has to pay for compromising on quality of teachers. The media will cry on
action to be taken on teachers on human rights and will project all the teachers
belong to asuras. Let the media shed its pretentions first and not give undue
publicity on the administrative matters. At least the appoint of teachers should be
only on merit and not on any other considerations. Let the govt fight the cause
and not the effects. You harvest what you sow
My father was a student of the presidency college and I took my degree from pachayappas.
The article makes me sad.. The discipline amongst the students is declining everywhere
and sincere attempts should be made by the govt, the parents and the student community
To restore normalcy in these prestigious colleges at Chennai.
A general decline in discipline has been the norm for generations in college campuses. I am an alumni of Kanchipuram Pachaiyappa's college for Men (Class of 1986). Though the the librarian was my friend (?), it was never open because "Libraries in departments are kept closed fearing students might vandalise books". As an active student, I talked to the Principal, Student Union President and took the initiative to open a reading room. I personally collected all the mind boggling number of weeklies, monthilies, and dailies the college library subscribed. During 2 years of its operation (1984-86), not a single magazine was lost or vandalized. Contrarily the so called "rowdy" collegemates fully supported me. My friend Shri. Vijayakumar and Balaji managed the RR for a few more years. During my studentship in Banaras Hindu University, I stopped vandalism in its track (1989-95). Message: We need strong committed leadership who is ready to challenge the status quo. BE POSITIVELY PROACTIVE.
This is the sign of things not only in education but in every sphere of life. Take the case of lawyers. Their behaviour in the name of striking work for some cause or the other leaves much to be desired. There was also this gory incident of law college students indulging in brutal violence with the entire police force in attention. These only indicate that un-deserving students and teachers enter the education sphere in the name of "social justice".
There are 2 significant factors that have brought about this situation
1. A chicken-and-egg conundrum where better faculty will not even think of joining either colleges until the quality of student intake improves, and better qualified students will not think of either college until the overall situation and faculty commitment improves, and 2. Both places have become places for loitering and unruly behaviour for perhaps outsiders and a few students.
2. If the ruling political party or all political parties have the will and commit to education, police personnel can easily be sent to ensure a quick stop to it, but then recent politicians are indeed the product of such environments.
Blaming parents is an easy way out, but the unruly culture and youth anger portrayed in movies is the great influencer - these two colleges have been in this situation for nearly 50 years now, indicative of the political change and general deterioration of living ideals in Tamil Nadu.
Pachaippas was well known for it's superiority in games like foot ball and volley ball.There
were nationally known runners.Presidency was known for intellectual debates and
discourses.Students from these prestigious colleges were class apart and much preferred in
professions like railways,civil service,political fields,health and care sector.There was time
when the alumni were preferred in marriage alliances.Much water has flown,got polluted by
sectarian politics and students hired for hoodwinking the gullible.With unemployment and
underemployment souring up,frustration sets in.Parental guidance got mixed up with
turbulent family-drunken father and scolding mother-.The shift of status from Guru to paid
employee shattered the myth of teaching with no respect to one another.Libraries are
seldom opened.Playing fields are unutilised with post of physical instructors vacant.Chennai
also hosts institutions like Loyola,Stella Maris and many more which are centres of
excellence.Something rots.
I have not known about these colleges. But the description shows that these institutions are brewing indisciplined individuals into the society. I can't blame the students or parents. I would blame the Management/Ownership body. Government or UGC has to audit and see if these schools serve positive purpose. If they don't, they should be able to takeover or handover to an able govt body. You cannot play with the Student's lives and careers!
Make the students pay for their education and stop the government from keeping the college staff on its pay role. Once the students know that they have to bear the cost of their stay in the college and once the teachers know that they can't take their pay checks for granted, everything else will fall in line.
The management needs work with parents. They need to lay stricter rules. To enforce the same they may take the help of the local police. Though it would be a matter of shame to have police in the college, at this point of time when things are out of hand, a strict set of rules and enforcing them is absolutely necessary. Even if parents take charge, as the article says these kids have found part time jobs in the party office, they will find other part time jobs. Else they may also turn their aggression into crime. We need to ensure their energy is diverted into positive activities either by love or force.
These colleges had great value because of the students. These have lost
reputation because of the quality of students. It is all determined by
the quality of students. Some thing drastic has to be done to our arts
and science colleges to improve the standard. Else people with poor
marks or no motivation to study enter to such prestigious institutions
and tarnish the image seriously. I still can't figure out why a group of
students would get into a bus and sing a lewd song!! Says a lot about
their upbringing and culture.
What are the parents doing? Discipline starts at a young age, however, its not too late to start. Parents of erring students can tell their dear offspring that if they dont behave, then they will not get money to pay fees, or even travel in the bus. Education is not important, first these students need to learn respect and become responsible citizens. All of us had our fun in college, which is a wonderful period of one's life. But we never went out to the limits that these students are going, like breaking buses, attacking one another. Since the college faculty are helpless, parents have to step in, and tell their wards: Either behave or get out on the street on your own. Nothing like a few days of real hunger to bring some sense into these "heroes of the street".
First bring these colleges under the merit schemes. Award placements for students on merit alone. Stop admissions based on external or internal recommendations. When merit comes in, everything else will walk out. Meritorious students will look at Presidency and Pachaiyappas only as the final resort if they fail to get admission in any other institute. I was a UG admittance in 1997 and even at that time I was not considering Pachaiyappas or Presidency or even Loyola for that matter. This was despite a couple of my uncles being graduates from Pachaiyappa's in the 1960s. As long admissions are influenced by politicians, bureaucrats or other powerful persons these will continue to happen.
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