75% attendance killing creativity

            Less attendance = Better results

             Everyone has their own opinions and I respect them. But today I am writing this blog to criticize the mandatory 75% attendance rule implemented by Indian government in engineering colleges to qualify for examination. In this blog, I am not pointing out any particular college so I request not to take it personally. I am talking in general.

             According to me, this rule is actually killing youth's talent. Thousands of students interested in sports activities or cultural activities cannot continue to focus on their skills due to this useless rule.  I believe that if you have a problem and you want to solve it, the very first step you need to take is to say that yes there is a problem. First of all, we must analyze this rule from both ends i.e University point of view and students point of view.

 Q1     University : If we are not going to impose 75% attendance criteria, students will not show up in the class.
  Student: This rule is quite acceptable but it clearly means that students are not interested in what's being taught during the lectures or the way of teaching. You need to make your classes much more interesting so that students show up in the classes. If you conduct lectures  on how to make an Android app or how to create a website and in the end of semester, ask for project on making 3 android apps,  I'm sure that students will attend the lectures. Students bunk classes only in the subject they are not interested in.

 Q2   University: We follow 75% attendance rule because we are worried about child's future.

Student: Let me tell you a fact that students are more worried about their future than you because they are not going to stay in college their entire lives. They are here for some 4-6 years and then they have to earn meal by themselves. In that time span what you are actually doing is, you are anyhow trying to force students to come to class irrespective of whether they are interested in not.

          I am not telling that government should eradicate this rule as I also believe that there must be some attendance criteria. But 75% criteria is more than enough.It should be 50%.

           Let us take an example. There are 2 friends A and B. Both are in computer engineering but from different colleges.
A
  In A's college, attendance criteria is 50%. He attends 2-3 lectures daily then takes a leave and goes to computer coaching classes to learn programming languages. He followed this routine for 4 years and you cannot imagine the knowledge he has attained and how much capable he has became after 4 years. He might  have easily learned and mastered 6-8 languages in detail.
B

   Let's talk about B. His college follows 75% attendance criteria. He used to attend each and every lecture irrespective of his interest. Attending the classes just for the sake of attendance. Follow typical engineer pattern, copy assignments, complete books and submissions.

   Now,at the time of job interviews and placements, what will happen? Who will bag more package? Do I really need to answer? Obviously A because at that time, knowledge in the subject matters the most not attendance. They will ask you questions which you need to answer with your knowledge.They are not going to ask you about your attendance.


   You should really come up with some solution of imposing this 75% attendance criteria.
Another idea from my side is, you should keep this criteria for maximum 2 years and then you must allow the students to learn what they want give the condition they must pass the examination. Like  he must be allowed to choose between from where he wants to learn. It could be from college,it could be any institute. Or he wants to learn mechanics from any workshop. Indirectly, It would add to job experience.

   Clearly, this rule is a hindrance in producing high quality engineers who can run their own industry by their own skill. Another point, I personally believe that a student must get attendance if he is present in class. There are many teachers who believe that student must be physically as well as mentally present in class to get the attendance. If a student talks in class,his attendance is gone. If a student do not answer the question in class,his attendance is gone. If a student does not complete a book, his attendance is gone. If a student does not complete his assignment,his attendance is gone. What the hell is wrong with this system. Can anyone explain?
   There is a petition carried out by Sanket company to remove 75% attendance bar. I think it deserves our support. So, kindly fill it up.

https://www.change.org/p/human-resource-department-of-india-remove-75-attendance-bar-in-graduate-colleges

    Those who agree with me ( to change 75% attendance criteria) must comment YES in comment box. Any other suggestion is also heartly welcomed.