Glorifying Merit Lists

Browsing through today newspaper one cannot help but notice the full-page advertisements published by the leading IIT coaching institutes. There was a competition inside competition as to who would take out the biggest advertisement and who would claim to have the largest students in the merit list. Unlike our days where there was only one merit list, now we have categories of merit lists. We now have the nation wise merit list, the state wise merit list, and the city wise merit list. The days where we would have “Mohulla” wise and surname wise merit list are not far off.

Though the advertisements were from different centers, all of them had one thing in common. They all had pictures of young smiling kids who have cleared IIT entrance. They were all dressed well and the backgrounds were also same, indicating that all the pictures were taken at same location. And we thought that its very expensive to afford brand ambassadors.

So how much does these centers actually contribute towards a kid’s success? If the advertisements are to be believed, they are the sole reason for the kid to achieve the success. So the next thing which comes to the mind is, if they are really so good as they claim to be, then why the hell only few of their students clear these tests and not all. After all they have a batch size of around 50-70, they have ensured that the kids sit over each other in the batch, they have also created a situation where the cross ventilation and hygienic environment is absolutely unheard of. So why only those who are successful are highlighted and the others who could not are not even mentioned and acknowledged?

It’s a discussion that would continue forever, but one thing according to me is very clear. You need to have a dedication, confidence and intelligence to pass these exams. Rest all the other aspects are complimentary to these. Taking out such advertisement and confusing the prospective parents is some thing all of these centers should avoid and must realize that you cannot fool a consumer for long. It would be good for them as well as their customers in longer run.