PRE-UNIVERSITY

PRE- UNIVERSITY

Oh what a grand confluence it was bridging two different mind-sets –those of the school and of the university stream. Yes, mind-set tuning was the major event at that point of learning [in colleges] for teen age members. Variously named – the PUC, Pre-degree, Intermediate etc describe the ‘neither here nor there’ status of the course. Yes, as yet it is not fully a degree stream nor is it a school session; above school but below that of university by reckoning. Leaving aside the status, it was a grooming place or a conditioning domain to disband some typical school methods and to acquire new strategies of learning from well articulated lectures, physical experience from experimental approaches in the laboratories. The natural outcome of adolescence, inhibitions and entry to adulthood of the age, were compounded by the demanding ambience of the college, where the boys and girls of PU were dominated by senior students of degree classes. Those timid-looking PU creatures were ticking time bombs in the sense that they just needed to ‘settle’ in the new place - the college before they could exhibit their innate abilities or matching arrogance. Perhaps what kept them tied down was English medium, as in those days, most schools barring a few select ones offered school education only through the regional language.

 A cloud of uncertainty was lit large over the faces of those PU candidates. Such a ‘fear of uncertainty‘, was short-lived; those students have had reasonable training in English; their having to learn every subject through English did cause a temporary dislocation. But they were smart enough to come to terms with the requirement.  Yes, if we wait for the II term of the college, new band of dynamite-like characters would be noticed from PU students. Also, they would take on any senior with adequate gusto and emerge unfazed. They picked up nuances of getting on with elders/seniors, a new submissive disposition in contrast to their earlier unassailable position in their schools. Yet they were visible as ‘new comers’ in the ambience.        

The most visible feature of PU students was their fear-ridden enthusiasm to attending classes. Colleges have imposing lecture halls, large black boards, some halls had sound amplifier to enhance listener comfort. These facilities in colleges overwhelm the new comers and to an extent made them feel small. Besides, seasoned lecturers, handling subjects looked complete masters and the PU students listening to lectures delivered in English, felt a high degree of seriousness in classroom transactions.  

Another characteristic feature among PU students was their eagerness to reach the classroom at the earliest. It was a pronounced feature from the second hour of the day onwards; in colleges lecture halls are invariably close to respective departments. So, the students rush to classroom from a different area in the college. A brief 5 minute break between hours was just sufficient to make it. But, to take vantage place in a hall, one has to be ‘ahead’ of others. The boys used to move in a mass, as if in a marathon race. Blindly they would dash through varied class groups, often pushing their way through corridors / narrow paths. So to say, a melee between hours was a common sight due to PU students.  For best part of the academic year these students display undue haste in moving between classrooms.

Carrying forward some old practices                                                                     

Writing in plain paper or un-ruled notebooks is a customary practice in higher classes. But, PU students in the early face of their college study would prefer to use ‘ruled’ notebooks, though no rules were issued by anyone in the colleges. Only later they would disband this habit and switch over to un-ruled note books.  Even more intriguing was their practice with regard to practical records. Biology practical work involves depiction of diagrams in books made of drawing sheets or loose drawing sheets. Those pages are generally retained plain except for the relevant diagram; but, PU students by a sheer force of habit would draw a line on the left, signifying a margin. Margins are not demarcated in biology record books. Such a practice is proof the adage ‘Habits die hard’. Despite their earnestness, their ‘eye-hand co-ordination’ for depiction of features in record notebooks was generally poor and only by repeated corrections, they could develop a sense of co-ordination and sense of proportion in drawing specific features.                                                                         

Another trait of PU candidates was their entrenched fear in meeting the teachers even for official purposes. Only after 2 terms in the college they could come to terms with normal practices on college campuses. For the first time they got to have ‘hands on’ training in all laboratories and had close examination of biological samples and in those days received training for dissection of animal specimens and anatomical details of plants.

All these together conferred on those boys and girls a fair idea of collegiate practices to teaching and learning ; by then they had a clear picture of handling or responding to situations in higher studies or profession studies. Needless to state that the then students did not resort to suicide attempts, having gone through real tough training and harsh realities.

Prof. K .Raman