Jawaharlal Nehru University’s unique admissions policy ensures that students come from all corners of the country, from all socio-economic backgrounds. The JNU learning experience takes place both inside and outside the classroom, in the debates and discussions that the university is famous for, and in the struggles and agitations that make headlines.
Of the many thousands of students who have passed through the portals of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) over the past five decades, few would say that the time they spent in JNU did not transform their lives, world view and social attitudes.
Classroom studies in JNU, mostly at the postgraduate level except for fresh entrants to the foreign languages courses, are themselves quite different from those of most other universities. The course content is framed somewhat differently and is taught and tested by most faculty with considerable rigour in a semester system, and in a manner that challenges rote learning and encourages critical thinking. Self-study of texts from the rather extensive reading lists is a must. If a student goes on to do research, s/he is pushed to even more rigorous self-study, and to an interpretive and critical approach towards both academic works and social reality. Teachers, too, interact with students as adults capable of comprehending subjects on their own without the need to be spoon-fed. Essay-type questions in examinations, term papers and seminar presentations, and a well-stocked library, make the JNU learning experience distinctive in India, certainly in the social sciences, humanities, liberal arts, policy and governance, and the distinctive school of international studies with foundational education in international politics, and later specialisation in different regions of the world, in diplomacy, disarmament and international law.
JNU students and alumni would also aver that, however good the curricular side is, much more learning is achieved outside the classroom at this university. At JNU, the process of seeking to critically understand the world around us takes place to a considerable extent in the almost endless debates and discussions that the university is famous for, and in the struggles and agitations which make the most headlines.
Night meetings
The post-dinner public meetings around the year, especially as part of the students’ union election process, have traditionally been an important part of the learning process at JNU. There are, of course, also several meetings organised during the day, but since lectures by visiting academics from India and abroad as well as classes, seminars or tutorials are also held during these hours, the night meetings held in the messes of the different hostels have always held a special place in JNU campus life. These meetings usually involve JNU student leaders, academics, activists, public intellectuals and political party representatives sharing their views on important national and international issues, followed by intensive discussions. The presentations and discussions are mostly well-informed, bring in diverse viewpoints and ideological perspectives, cover a vast range of subjects and bring in insights and perspectives gleaned from both curricular and extracurricular sources. One has seen many a meeting, including pre-election ones, with over 400 students sitting or standing wall-to-wall, with many dozens sitting on the floor, studiously taking notes. This was probably as important a part of their education, both in an academic sense and which informed their perspectives as enlightened and involved citizens in later life. This is what a good education ought to mean, but is so seldom obtained in India, given either the deprivation or the elitism in so many universities and institutions in the country.
Sociocultural diversity
Adding to this conceptual diversity is the geographic and sociocultural diversity of JNU. There are few institutions of higher learning where students come from all corners of the country in substantial numbers, from all socio-economic, caste and tribal backgrounds. Much of this is due to the unique admissions policy in JNU, albeit considerably diluted now, introduced after considerable struggle by the student body, especially on the Left. You would therefore find in JNU many first-generation university students studying in English medium for the first time and bringing with them diverse experiences from their vastly different backgrounds. These students bring their own distinct perspectives into the campus discourse inside as well as outside the classrooms, and take away with them from JNU a high-quality formal education as well as a critical sociopolitical understanding that is not only specific to contemporary issues but also provides a more generalised perspective which informs their thinking and activities in the future.
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