By Prabhjot Singh | Opinion |
In 1970 when the newly set up Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) conducted its first ever Matriculation examination, Rajinder Singh Bhatia of Government Model High School, Cemetery Road, Ludhiana, stood first in the State. He scored 753 marks out of a maximum of 900.
Twenty-seven students, including nearly 50 percent boys of the same school, figured in the State Merit list. Lot of water has flown down the Sutlej since then. Number of boys, especially those from Government schools, on the merit list has since then been on the downslide.
How many times since 1970, a boy has topped the Matriculation examination in Punjab. The number may be close to reaching a double figure. In 53 years, the State has not produced even 10 boys as toppers in one of the prime examinations conducted by the State Board. Several hundred thousand students appear in the exam.
Recently, when the Central Civil Services examination results were announced, Punjab, once a front runner, drew a poor consolation. Representation of the State not only in Civil Services but other areas, including defence forces, Railways, and education is shrinking fast. It is why a section of eminent Punjabis, including politicians, bureaucrats, technocrats, writers and businessmen, have shown their serious concern at diminishing Punjab’s face from the national horizon. Who is responsible for this downslide?
Perhaps, we, the people.
Senior secondary education has come to such a pass that the State that once used to pride itself with institutions like SC Dhawan Government College (Ludhiana), Government Mahendra College (Patiala) and Government College (Hoshiarpur). They long ago lost their status as exclusive men or boys’ colleges. These institutions, that used to produce top bureaucrats, technocrats, doctors, academicians, writers and captains of trade and industry, would have closed down but for the change of their nomenclature. From exclusive men, they have conveniently become co-educational institutions.
Interestingly, there may be no example of any women college in the State becoming co-educational for want of students.
Where are Punjab boys going? What are they doing? These are some of the questions that are uppermost on the minds of parents of Punjab boys. Parents have been taking bank loans, selling their agricultural land and investing their lifetime savings only to make sure their son goes abroad and earns while he learns. It is a sad story that those entrusted with the governance and shaping the future of the youth of the State have “more important things to work on.” What are those important things that keep them overly occupied?
Controlling and combating the end results of this exodus of youth, shrinking job opportunities and deteriorating standard of education is what they collectively pretend to be doing. Drugs, domestic violence and pollution are the byproducts that have assumed dangerous proportions.
Yes, it is time to feel proud of the achievements of our girls as the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said in his tweet. But at the same time boys, too, need attention and careful handling. Time is up for serious introspection. Otherwise, it will be too late.
(Prabhjot Singh is a veteran journalist with over three decades of experience of 14 years with Reuters News and 30 years with The Tribune Group, covering a wide spectrum of subjects and stories. He has covered Punjab and Sikh affairs for more than three decades besides covering seven Olympics and several major sporting events and hosting TV shows.)
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