cellSpacing=0 width=100> src="/ArticleImages/Images18/voice.jpg" vspace=5>I believe that the existing quota system greatly reduces the chances of deserving students from getting admission into good schools and colleges.

The educational institutes who follow the quota system often claim that even within the quota only deserving students who have secured a higher percentage are given admission. Sadly this is not true.

There have been many cases where students with very low percentages are given admission just because they belong to a certain community.

In such a scenario, the recent move made by Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies is most welcome. It has proposed to do away with the Gujarati quota for admissions and I hope other institutions too would follow suit.

But, I feel that the sports quota is justified. Students with outstanding achievements in sports should be considered as their sporting activities might have led their studies to take a back seat.

Even students who excel in extra curricular activities should be given a quota as their achievements reflect their talent. Therefore, aspects like a well-rounded personality consisting of the right attitude, intelligence and confidence also should be given its due importance.

That will however require the overhauling of the entire education system. Also the students who appear for board exams from the SSC, ICSE and CBSE boards should not be judged at the same level.

In this age of cut-throat competition most institutes conduct entrance exams for admissions, which means that many students get rejected. Therefore, it is important to encourage students to take up skill-oriented courses that can earn them a livelihood.

Nirupama Kartik is the ex-principal of Arya Vidya Mandir School at Juhu. She is a resident of Gitanjali building at Versova. She spoke to Darshana Dube.