Bihar Plus-2 toppers’ story: Is not it journalistically wrong to ask such questions?

More than deterioration in standard of education in Bihar, or anywhere else in the country, it is the quality of stories being carried by TV channels and newspapers which is a matter of concern.

No doubt the girl who topped in Class-XII Arts failed to properly pronounce Political Science and confused it with Domestic or Home Science and the boy who topped in Science answered aluminium was the most reactive element in the periodic table instead of fluorine.

It remains a mystery as to what prompted India Today/Aaj Tak to ask these questions on course? Has any channel ever asked any question on say Physics, Chemistry, Math, Political Science etc from any CBSE or ICSE topper in the country? If not why? Is it because those girls and boys come from elite school and are of high-breed? I am hundred per cent sure that some of them would falter and even give wrong answer, especially while talking to any national channel.

Journalists are not supposed to act as examiner. And if they are to play this role than why start from toppers of Bihar and tarnish their image all over the or world?

After all what these journalists want to achieve by doing such sensational stories? To convey the message that education standard has deteriorated in Nitish Kumar’s Bihar.

No dispute in it. But is not it a fact that till a couple of years back these very ladies and gentlemen in the media were busy praising Nitish to the sky for bringing about a great social and educational revolution. Is it that the process of unlearning has started in the last couple of years and the toppers have forgotten whatever they had been taught to them till Class-X?

If the media want to know the exact situation of education in India they must read some of the examples carefully and do not ridicule just the poor quality of Hindi medium students. I am saying so because I have a quarter century of experience of both full time journalism as well as teaching school, college and university students––teaching not for the sake of bread and butter.

Only last year I asked an ICSE Class-X girl of a very reputed school of Patna as to in which country is Rome situated. The reply was Europe. Three months later when the results appeared she scored equally brilliant marks as the Bihar topper girl this year. Mind it this ICSE girl has an international exposure and has twice been to the United States and other countries.

About 30 CBSE students of Class-X were given a map of North America to identify just two countries. Three-fourths of them could not identify the United States, Canada or Mexico. Almost half of them wrote Brazil in place of the US and Chile instead of Mexico. They all passed Social Science exam with flying colour.

Only last week I asked a Civil Service aspirant doing MA in Geography from a reputed university of Bihar as to where is Vladivostok and Bosphorus. When he was unable to amswer I asked him to tell where is Buxar situated––east or west of Patna. He failed to reply.

When I asked a third year civil engineering student whether river Kosi flows from north to south or south to north he could not reply. He was not from any private engineering college, but a reputed government institute from Jharkhand. When asked further how would you build dam when you do not even know the flow of river he said “we are only given bookish knowledge.”

A B. Com graduate came to a reputed Civil Service Coaching Institute of Mumbai. When asked by the director what is his ambition, he replied to become an IAS officer. When asked to explain the full form of IAS, he failed.

A Class-XII student from Rajasthan qualified the written test of National Defence Academy (NDA), but could not be finally selected. However, when later asked by his friend to spell Colonel he replied ‘Kernal’. Incidentally, he spelled Lieutenant correctly.

\ These are just a few glaring examples. The education system, parents, the society and the students all are to blame for it.

Just because we are journalists and cameranen should we disclose the identity of all these innumerable students and go on doing story everyday? If not why are we so selective about Bihar Class-XII results? Are we selling Bihar?