The ruckus about the university entrants undergoing mandatory leadership training is fizzing out. While the first batch of university freshers have undergone two weeks of intense, physical activity and sessions of lectures in a bid to prepare them to face the ordeal of university rags.
Through this training students were made aware of university ragging, how it started out and how it’s developed into an abominable trial. Can the positive thinking instilled in the students over two weeks withstand the rags? And knowing that these students have been prepped for it, will the senior students who participate in ragging decide to take it up a notch this year? Having emerged from the leadership training, university entrants have varying views on what they expect of their first few months of university life.
Dilini, is psyched out about the training and says she’s ready to face whatever the raggers throw her way. “At the beginning we were confused about what to expect but we found out that is wasn’t military training. It was leadership training designed to empower us,” she says. “There were lots of long term benefits”, she adds, “everything they taught us was practical. University graduates don’t get this sort of practical knowledge. Speaking about how ragging was addressed at the training programme she shares, “They are trying to put a stop to it. There were lectures on ragging. How it started and how now it’s gone out of hand and our batch will be the first to stand up to it”.
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Dilini believes there’s no way to brining a close to ragging externally, having gone through the ‘Leadership training she’s of the firm belief that it’s up to the students to bring about change. “It’s terrible that we are going to face it,” she considers for a moment before she adds, “but we’ve been taught to be courageous.”
Sunila is of a converse opinion. She believes that the training was nothing more than some physical activities and they gained nothing in terms of leadership skills and positive thinking. “There certainly wasn’t any positive thinking being cultivated,” shares Sunila. “There were people who refused to get into physical activities and they were let off. There were those who hadn’t done sports in school and couldn’t even manage stretching exercises, they just said they were sick and avoided it. They were not happy to be there. A part from that there were lectures that we had to just sit through. So they didn’t achieve what they set out to do, there’s no leadership or positive thinking being promoted”.
And so with regard to ragging she says she doesn’t think it will make little difference. “They might as well eradicate it instead of training the students to deal with it,” she concludes.
Pradeepan, a student from Jaffna says, “The trainers said that ragging is one of the main problems in university life. We were taught that it was not acceptable. It’s inhuman”.
He added that they were told that the government has done what it can but it is also up to the students to fight against ragging.
“The government was battling with it all the time,” is what Lahiru, another fresher who went through the rigorous training, had to say. “You have to see to it that you and your juniors are not going to be ragged. Personally I would never do it.” Lahiru says that he will not get involved in ragging and says that if more students think along the same lines ragging in universities can be brought to an end.
While the freshers seem to think that they are more than capable of handling the rags, we spoke with a graduate from the Kelaniya University, to find out what exactly they might be up against.
Tharushi describes the rags that she went through saying while physical ragging is rare, severe verbal ragging which can destroy a student’s psyche is rampant. “Girls are mostly scolded. They would yell at us in profanity and call us prostitutes if we wore three quarter length skirts. The skirts had to touch your ankle.” Elaborating on the class difference, she said that the students from Colombo schools were ragged harder, adding that if you were found speaking in English all hell would break loose.
Having experienced the ragging and having lived three years among those who choose to carry on the tradition of ragging, she says “I think they’ll be harsher to the students. I feel that they will make it harder to prove a point”, adding that the students can’t turn to the lecturers for help as some of the lecturers approve of it; “they feel it’s part of university life.”
In the mean time, while the government believes ragging is a problem and sees it fit to address the issue at the ‘Leadership Training’ programme, the University Student Union deny that ragging takes place at the universities. “In the universities there’s no rag as such like the government says. Not anymore”, assures the Student Convenor, Sanjeewa Bandaranayake.
“There’s an orientation programme conducted by the faculty of students. With the intervention of certain laws the rag has changed. The leadership training programme is not conducted to stop the rag. How can you stop a rag with another rag?” he asks. “We don’t understand how a leadership programme can stop something that isn’t happening. The result will only be a brainwashed student if there ever was a student of free thought and mind; he will now become just a puppet of the government”.
“But we are sure that once they enter university they will realise the reality that is university. Things will change,” he adds ominously.
Names have been changed |
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