Rote memorization seems to be an important part of the learning process at Annamalai, and students here have an extraordinary capacity for memorization. Like students everywhere, they cram just before the examinations. They freely admit this is their procedure, explaining that daily study would be ineffective. "We would not be able to remember the facts that long. The only way to pass is to cram at the end."
Professional Problems
Problems of the teaching profession at Annamalai include working effectively within the externally determined syllabi and examinations. Some professors feel their creativity is hampered. But this national system does lend stability to the educational process in a time of great change. The promotional process is also accause for some concern. Advancement from lecturer to reader to professor is based entirely on seniority. In addition, a general policy of one professor to one department serves to maintain the average age of an Annamalai professor at about 50.
Teaching salaries have increased significantly since Independence, although they fall well below the standards for a faculty such as Harvard's. In spite of improvements, as number of teachers, especially among the lower paid instructors, spend much time at outside tutoring, earning as much as half of their total income from outside work.
Reform Efforts
A general feeling pervades the young, dynamic segment of the profession that many significant reforms should come within the next five or ten years. While many teachers are willing to criticize the system, some balk at efforts to effect concrete change. As one reader put it, they have too much of a stake in the old ways, in preserving the practices which make a teacher's job in some ways one of the least demanding in India today.
For instance, on the recommendation of the University Grants Com- mission, a certain portion of the Annamalai faculty has been trying for the past two or three years to gain approval of a measure that would put 30% of an arts student's grade on class work, instead of all on the public examination. To date they have been unsuccessful, but resistance has been gradually waning.
Coffee, Short, and Movies
Outside the classroom, the life of the Annamalai student is in some ways similar and in many ways still in contrast to that of the Harvard student. Much time is spent in "bull sessions," or lounging in the coffee shop. Weekly movies in English and Tamil are very popular. Almost all students participate in some sport, organized or not. However, a special reason for the popularity of the "cinema" and sports may be the dearth of other extracurricular activities.
Two years ago two American Fulbright students started a weekly newspaper which is now the single most impressive extra-curricular activity. The Student Union, composed of representatives from the various university departments, organizes some minor activities in the dormitories, but has no voice in the determination of administrative policies.
It is often inconceivable to students themselves that they could attempt to influence policy in the way that the Harvard Council for Undergraduate Affairs tried to do. One of the sources of this attitude is probably the hierarchical, authoritarian nature of Indian society where respect for elders is a central value.
Segregation of the Sexes
The cultural gap between the United States and India is directly responsible for some differences. The most obvious of these is the segregation of the sexes. Very little contact between male and female students takes place on any level. Students would be shocked to see a boy and girl talking casually on the street corners, while, in India, a boy taking a girl's right hand would indicate his intention to marry her.
It is especially difficult for Annamalai students coming from traditional village backgrounds to cope with the slightly more liberal situations at the university. The result is that Annamalai students would seems very naive by Cambridge standards in their attitudes towards the opposite sex.
Another cultural difference is manifested in the absence of voluntary activities on the campus comparable to Harvard's Phillips Brooks House, Combined Charities Drive, or student involvement in the civil rights movement and politics. Charity may take the form of individual gifts to beggars and others in need, but organized fund drives or social service are not part of the cultural pattern.
Concern with international affairs is relatively high, but active interest in domestic politics, say as campaign workers, is negligible. In general, the Annamalai student participates less in worldly affairs outside his immediate personal existence than his American counterpart.
What does the average Annamalai student look for in and want out of his university education? Most students seem to view their four years or more in the university as the prerequisite to a "degree" and thus to a good job. A B.A. or B.S. degree brings immediate prestige along with the prospect of economic security. In India's status-conscious and economically precarious society, both aspira-
The best students, especially in the sciences, get highly-coveted jobs in the Indian Administrative Service. Others settle for lower government posts or positions in industry. The quality of the work may matter less than the social status and economic security that go along with it. Furthermore, a better job may entitle them to a better marriage match, including a higher dowry.
The University Grants Commission recognizes that "the University should not be treated as though it were some kind of waiting room in which young men and women collect before entering upon a wage-earning career." But India's present educational goals stress promoting quantitative higher education. The possi-