As a young girl, I had many dreams about my college life. I always aspired to study in a well-reputed institution which had a very optimistic environment and was full of strong-willed and responsible students. After completing my schooling, when I finally got admission at Indraprastha College for Women, everybody around me said that this college would certainly help me in turning my dreams into reality.
Situated in the heart of Civil Lines, Indraprastha College for Women is the oldest women’s college in the University of Delhi. The college boasts of the beautiful green campus and varieties of birds (including peacocks) can be seen roaming in different corners of the college. IPCW gives importance to sports and trains students in archery, swimming, shooting, wall climbing, and more.
At the same time, the college is also mindful of the needs of the visually impaired. There are tactile paths for
ease in navigation. An enabling unit has also been constructed for the purpose of imparting computer skills.
The principal of the institution often proudly shares the stories of courage of our alumni. She talks about women challenged patriarchy and came to study in the college back in the 1920s. She also narrated to us how students dug a swimming pool themselves when they were told that a pool shouldn’t be constructed inside the premises.
After reading such positive things about the college, it is natural that one might expect to find the name of the college in the top 10 institutes of the country. However, the NIRF rankings have a completely different story to tell. According to the new rankings, the college is at the 46th position in the list.
I was neither surprised nor disappointed when I saw the ranking given to my college. The experiences which I had during my college life are reasons for my neutral reaction.
While joining the college, I had envisioned that I would become a better and more confident person at the end of three years. Looking at my seniors, I had initially felt that the college had played a major role in transforming them into better people. But after spending three years at the institution, I somehow feel that the college itself does not give freedom to its students. Now I can say with certainty that the institution has not fully helped me in becoming more confident but it has successfully imbibed a sense of fear in me – the fear of having low attendance.
Exams used to scare me the most in my school life. But after reaching college, that fear of exams was replaced by that of a minimal attendance. I was so scared of the consequences of having a low attendance that I ended up attending all the classes which stretched from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., often sacrificing a lot of my leisure time. The classes were so long that there was no time left for any extra-curricular activities either.
Our professors too are so obsessed with our attendance that they keep on repeating the word innumerable times in a day. In fact, they threaten to mark us absent if we make noise and this trick works almost every time.
It is quite ironic that the faculty and administration try to control every aspect of a student’s life, in a college that stands for freedom and empowerment. This restriction is also imposed on the students’ union of the college which does not enjoy any power. The union has to take permission from the college for everything. They are operate like puppets in the hands of the college and are expected to work according to the wishes of the administration without complaining or protesting.
Moreover, the college is not a part of DUSU and does not allow its students to join or vote in the elections. For instance, Kawalpreet Kaur, an alumna of the college, joined AISA only after her graduation, and now she is a well-known name of the students’ party as its Delhi president.
Every college is based on certain ideologies and beliefs. In the case of my college, I feel that the three most important things on its checklist are attendance, attendance and only attendance. Who knows, maybe the college feels that having a good attendance might pave the way for empowerment and growth. But it certainly doesn’t lead to good rankings.
Had the NIRF rankings been introduced during the early 1950s, the college might have featured in the list of the top 5. But if the institute wishes to be included in the list of top 10 institutes, then it has to bring about a lot of changes in its functioning.
Featured image for representative purpose only.
Featured image source: Aurora.aries/Wikimedia Commons.
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