Reservations In Education: Do We Still Need Them In 2024?

In the year 2024, when progress and changing social standards have become widespread, it has raised a lot of discussions on whether or not educational reservations are still applicable. Historically grounded and geared towards inclusivity, these programs have often served as gateways for marginalized communities. However, this is a new era with globalization at its peak; there is rapid technological advancement and various political environments are taking shape, hence their effectiveness, as well as needs, are put into question.

Advocates insist that reservations remain necessary in equalizing education opportunities between different people in society because they believe that it’s only through such schemes that systemic imbalances can be corrected. They argue this based on their observation of continuing disparities suffered by underprivileged people who may lack access to resources required for personal development due to certain historical factors. Additionally, supporters fear that without positive actions like reservation, many individuals, especially those from low-income backgrounds, might never get any chance of advancing academically, thereby widening more differences among citizens’ capabilities within any given country.

However, critics claim that once upon a time, these policies were instrumental in achieving social justice, but now they could be irrelevant and counterproductive too. Those who do not support them say so because they think such programs breed reliance, which kills competition; hence, lowering standards expected from students in an educational system established purely on meritocracy grounds should also target talents critically needed by our societies at particular times rather than focusing entirely upon those based entirely upon performance records alone without considering this fact deeply enough. Furthermore, opponents stress 

Impact of reservations in the historical era.

Education is a privilege and a must for every person. There were times when getting a primary education was not easy. But now, it has been made available to everyone. The major challenge faced back then was the discrimination by minority communities. They were not allowed to enter educational institutes. This was concerning, as many people who wanted to achieve education from minority communities were opposed. 

To provide a better education system for such classes, many leaders took action and started revolutions. Gradually, the situation started to improve, and education for all was made possible. As the country started to develop, many more educational institutions were established. This made education possible for different people from different regions. However, the educational institutes were still skeptical about the entry of minority students to the campus. Thus, to secure their educational rights, the act of reservation was implemented.  

Under the reservation, a certain percentage of seats in all educational institutes were reserved for minority communities like Scheduled Tribe (ST), Scheduled Caste (SC), and Other Backward Classes (OBC). This ensured that all people would be able to receive a fair education. Since institutes needed to have a fixed ratio of students, With years passing, campuses then started to see growth in these percentages of enrollment. And with it, they also observed the inclusion of people of various castes.  

The main reason for establishing reservations was because of the discrimination faced by the individuals. However, with time, a larger number of reservation categories started to emerge. This included people with disabilities (PwD), international students, and other universities (OS) for students belonging to other state universities.  

Is the impact of reservations in the upcoming years a good thing?

If we look at the main objective behind the introduction of category reservations, we can see that the primary reason was discrimination. However, in recent times, people have become more inclusive, and many states have universities that welcome all students, irrespective of their caste or religious background.  

While there are advantages, there is also a huge disadvantage. To understand it better, let's see how the allotment system works. 

• An entrance exam is conducted for students who wish to enter college or university for a particular subject.

• After the examination, results are declared, and all students are ranked accordingly. 

• After the ranking, physical or online seat allotment starts. 

• There are a certain number of seats available for each category. Once the seats are filled, the allotment for that category is said to be complete. However, if any seat in the reserved category remains unoccupied, then that seat is transferred to the general category since the numbers are greater.  

This is the basic format for admission to various institutes. Since the majority of students appearing for tests belong to the general category, the competition is high. However, for the reserved category, the competition is comparatively low. This impacts a deserving candidate from the unreserved category who could have achieved a place but could not due to the limitations of the seat matrix.  

This is one of the major flaws of this system. In today's world, people are educated and understanding. Hence, the reservation category is just a bonus accelerator for the reserved community. In most cases, many people who score less get a seat in reputed institutions. If the factor of reservation is removed, then there will be a major difference in the way education is perceived by people. Therefore, the competition will become equal and difficult. 

In the modern era, the impact of reservations is negative rather than positive. There are many reasons, for instance:

• A deserving candidate loses their opportunity due to the seat matrix. 

• Exploitation of the system by students to gain easy access to the courses without hard work. 

• Availability of special aid for such students, irrespective of their financial background. 

These are some of the reasons that make enrollment a difficult and competitive environment. 

If we look up government scholarships in India, they are mostly available for SC, ST, or girls. The unreserved category, and especially boys, are far from getting any aid. Rather than providing scholarships based on caste, they should be given based on the financial condition of the students. This way, the person in need will benefit, and no unfair advantage will be taken. Also, in trying to create equality between genders, we somehow see that one gender has been made superior to the other. This makes us think: are we moving towards equality?