Board wars hit colleges

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Since the introduction of the ICSE board, there’s been an imperceptible snob value attached to the system of education and ICSE students have often looked down on their SSC counterparts. The only difference was, back then, it wasn’t so obvious, but now, it is increasingly so.

Students as young as 12 or 13, from ICSE schools feel ‘superior’ to their peers studying in SSC schools. An ICSE student whose best friend is from the SSC echelons is a rarity, a mindset that continues right through to college. “People tend to hang out with others who have a similar background as them,” reasons Sohrab Mistri, 17, who studies at an expensive ICSE school, “I generally don’t have friends who come from SSC schools, because I don’t gel with them. Most SSC students come from lower middle class families and their attitudes and values are very different from ours.” A common assumption is that if you’re from an ICSE board, you are better educated and with a savvier personality.
Sneha Venkateswar, also an ICSE student, mouths a few uncomplimentary SSC board clichés, “We don’t mug and we don’t cheat. In SSC, everything is straight from the textbook, especially subjects like Maths and Physics. ICSE students understand and apply as opposed to blindly learning.”
But after having completed my 12th grade from the HSC board, I am put into the same category as that of the SSC students and the difference boils down to nothing. If anything, ICSE students only make their own college lives tougher — a minority in college — now, we are the outcasts. For all those still on their high horse — here’s a reality check — the SSC students hate us. “Most ICSE students are big snobs with a major superiority complex. They look down upon us SSC students. Snide, derogatory remarks are the norm,” says Akshay Sewlikar, a student of Ruia College, Mumbai, who comes from an SSC school.
But ICSE students are not bad people, they insist. They’re happy to help and most will admit that their ‘attitude’ is nothing more than a façade. “Yes, ICSE students enjoy the snob status, but only at face value. We might make fun of SSC students just for the heck of it, there is nothing personal. If they come and ask us for something, we will help them,” says Sohrab graciously.
And ICSE students who’ve been playing ‘king of the castle’ for so long seem to be waking up to the fact that the IB league are breathing down their necks.

Keerthana srinivasan
The Asian Age