POTENTIAL AND PERFORMANCE

In one of my earlier blogs on ‘Reservation’, I had mentioned that equals were not competing in the various entrance examinations, and that weightage had to be given for potentially meritorious students from not so well reputed colleges and schools.

It is now exhilarating to learn that ‘Oxford University is redefining its admissions policy in an attempt to seek out more academically bright students from poor performing schools and less affluent backgrounds. For the first time, Professors will have detailed information that allows them to compare quality of schools before candidates are offered seats. This is to help them differentiate between students who achieved top grades at strong state schools and those who reached the same level with no such advantage.’ The emphasis is more on ‘educational context rather than on the personal one’ Oxford University is ‘keen not to just look at students’ existing performance, but how they could do over three years’. It also feels that ‘a student who is in an environment with a lot of support will be well prepared’. Where a student has less support, the University wanted to factor that in.

I would place a boy or girl from a rural and less sophisticated institution who scored a high fifty in a competitive examination, above the one from acclaimed institutions like St. Stephens or Loyola, who merely scored sixty, because the former has potential and the latter a mere ‘thus far, no further', syndrome.

In an atmosphere surcharged with clamour for ‘reservation’ and ‘merit seats’, a request for factoring in ‘potential’ may sound to be a voice in the wilderness.