Academic Marks And Soft Skills
Posted on :
16-12-2008
- Author :
Major G Lakshmana Rao
The professional colleges like Engineering, Medical, Dental, Pharmacy and Management etc. are to train and equip the students with the knowledge and skills of the branch opted by the students. For that they provide instruction of various papers in a semester as prescribed by the universities. The main task of the faculty is to prepare the students for all examinations, i.e. semester and annual, and see that the students get through the exams scoring good marks. Infact, the students are rated poor, average, good, excellent only on the basis of marks they secure in exams. Hence, the teachers are very busy in conducting class/lab work with a periodical evaluation by way of mid exams, quiz tests, internal and external labs, seminars, assignments, presentations, project work, semester exams. All this is being done to make the students ready for examination so that they fare well in the university examinations by scoring high marks.
The marks scored by the student are reflection of the academic performance and brilliance of the student. The marks secured by the student are very important in the process of selection of the candidates for various jobs. Both, in the Government and private sectors the marks obtained by the student are the basis for submission of application and for final selection. Some companies prescribe minimum percentage of marks as an eligibility condition even for applying for a job.
All and sundry cannot apply because of this pre-condition. Hence, marks are a sufficient motivating factor for the students to maintain good academic score. Some renowned MNCs insist on having consistently good academic performance starting from 10th class to be eligible for campus placements. Such insistence is a obligatory to make the students committed to their studies so that they are through and have grip over the subjects they study. Possessing strong knowledge of fundamentals and basics of the subjects is very essential, especially, for professional college students. Because, in the long run it helps them a lot in the discharge of their job responsibilities relating to their core area. There are some Government agencies like Post and Telegraphs that select the first level clerical staff only on the basis of SSC / SSLC / Inter marks without conducting any other written test or interview. The brilliance and the merit, ordinary and extraordinary mental ability of a student, can best be adjudged through class, rank, distinction obtained by a student. Infact, the universities and colleges recognize and reward the students by awarding medals, awards and university ranks etc, on the basis of marks alone. This goes a long way in promoting the self esteem and confidence of the students concerned. The universities in our country and abroad, the research institutions, Centres of Excellence give top priority for the marks secured by the student at Under Graduate and Post Graduate level to give admission to Ph.D./Post Doctoral Research. Also, that is the yardstick for according teacher fellowships, teaching assistantship, fee waivers, internship, stipends, campus and part time jobs. Hence, the importance of academic marks and distinction scored by the student will be life long achievement to be proud of and remembered not only by the candidate concerned but also by successive batches. Conducting exams/tests and awarding marks, is a time tested method since ages to evaluate the mental ability of the students.
As stated above, academic marks have great importance in a student’s career. But, of late, it is feared that the focus has been shifted to soft skills due to several factors. The IT & ITES MNCs which have great employability potential and have been offering thousands of jobs till recently are responsible for this shift. These multinational companies have their head quarters in USA or Europe. They carry their business during day time especially, the B.P.O.s. This compels the employees of their branches located in our country to work in night shifts and be proficient in English. Hence, these companies are laying more emphasis for English communication and other soft skills. It has become fashionable in India for any student to have good communication skills in English, though 80% of the world population do not know English. A candidate for campus placement should have reasonable communication and other soft skills. A student of academic brilliance will naturally possess those skills like positive attitude, short term / long term life goal, leader ship, interpersonal relationship, time management, manners etiquette etc. The importance of academic marks cannot be minimized in the process of selection of a candidate. In core industrial areas like civil, mechanical, electrical, an employee must be strong in fundamentals and have good grip over the subject and familiar with the local language in order to discharge his duties efficiently. Next to academic marks, importance is given to soft skills which is a matter of great concern. There is every chance of convent bread products getting placements. These companies, in order to evaluate the soft skills including the value system are subjecting the candidates for HR interview. The questions asked in these interview are of such type that they can easily be predicted and answered. The answers are manipulated which are interpreted as per the whims and fancies of the questioner. HR is a complex area. It is doubtful, that by eliciting 2 or 3 manipulated answers for each questions, candidates total personality including the value system can be assessed correctly. This is leading to circumstances where in the most deserving students are getting eliminated, while a student who is highly irregular and indisciplined but a talkative gets selected though possessing average mental ability. All this is happening in the name of evaluating the attitude of the student under the banner of soft skills.
All these years there used to be a match between the academic brilliance of the candidate and the placement he/she got. But, in IT & ITES companies, jobs carrying high packages are given to average and above average students. In all the competitive examinations / selections for jobs at higher levels, like IAS, IPS, IFS, Group-I, POs, etc. marks secured in the written test and the academic profile of the candidate are given more weightage than the marks secured in viva voce, where in questions pertaining to HR and other soft skills are asked to assess the attitude of the candidates. In this context, it is not out of place to examine very carefully the new behavioural trends that are emerging among the employees of IT & ITES companies who are selecting candidates for their excellent attitude after testing their soft / life skills. With their disposable money, purchasing power we hear many cases of indulgence like pre-marital /post-marital / extra-marital sex, pub lives on week ends, system of office companion to share the office stress immediately, addiction to intoxicants, broken marriages etc. All these are the symptoms of weakening the moral fabric and damaging the peace and solace obtained in the family with elderly care and counsel. This materialistic possessive attitude, aping the West, forgetting their roots, raises doubts as to the efficacy of tools adopted in making the selections.
These soft skills are being imparted to the students to make them good human beings but the euphoria obtained by subjecting the students to short term soft skills programs is proving short lived. Basically, it is the family, neighbourhood, exposure, friendship that nurture the values of an individual. The desired soft skills can be acquired by sustained practice more so when there is a pressing need and compulsion. An under graduate student at that age will still be in his formative period with great capacity for adaptability and potentiality to raise to the expectations and requirements of the job he/she holds. When once a student is adjudged based on his/her academic brilliance intellectual achievements, there is every possibility of moulding him/her by giving systematic inputs. His own experience and need will transform him. These soft skills cannot be obtained by a student in the class room or in 2 or 3 months. To make themselves employment ready, nowadays both, the students and colleges are making extra efforts and spending money to inculcate these skills by a systematic and structured training as a part of curriculum or some times out side the curriculum. The student is also spending considerable time and money to be proficient in these skills. This is resulting in the emergence of many training institutes / counselling centres making a lot of money. The students hailing from rural areas with mother tongue media and poor families are facing a kind of discrimination resulting in depression and feelings of inferiority. This, over emphasis on soft skills is only because of IT & ITES companies. The core Engineering industries are giving recognition to the candidates of intellectual ability amply reflected in their marks. An input of soft skills may be given to the selected candidates by the company concerned as part of their pre-entry training, instead of bothering too much on such skills before the campus placement.
All this is not to depreciate the importance of the soft skills. They are very relevant in jobs sector. But the only point we wish to focus upon is the way these so called ‘soft skills’ are imparted assnd the priority of importance given over other skills (i.e. academic skills / hard skills).
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