My college is a very relaxed institution where the kids are given the freedom to attend classes and clock upto 75%. So, they do not tie them down with locked gates, but very sensibly give them the freedom to come and go, provided they have 75% attendance in the end, for a hall ticket to write the exam.

I have taught in other colleges where no such rule exists. The kids are not given any freedom when it comes to attendance. They are expected to be present every single day. Frankly as a lecturer and professor, I think the latter is a better method for our students.The reason, not all students are sensible, they come to college to play the fool, on funds paid by indulgent parents. Parents who today stupidly support and back up the lies, about the shortfall in attendance, made by their wards.

Parents who are not like our parents were -- tough and disciplined and hoping to rub the same off on us their kids. Today’s parents are trouble makers most of the time. Blindly support their kids lack of attendance and expect them to be given a hall ticket on poor attendance, citing the college is too strict.

Don’t they realise that if a child is not regular, they cannot learn the subject being taught? Most subjects by the time students reach college, are mainly taught in class -- hands on. Not the old school method of being taught by giving the student notes which they learn by rote.

My classes are totally hands on with the kids doing all the research and bringing it to class. There they learn to stand up in teams and present their PPT’s which will stand them in good stead, when pitching their stories later in the media world they hope to be part of. They learn to make PPTs without a single grammatical mistake. They learn to focus and work as a team. And the difference that I see from the first sem to the 4th sem is amazing. The magic of good educators, works on the students.

So then, how does poor attendance help a student? How does bunking class help educate them? Why should the college give a certificate backed by its credentials and teachers credentials, be misused to give an irregular student a certificate?

When I went to study abroad, there was NO such concept. Infact when we talked about percentage the teachers were aghast at our third world attitudes.There was no such concept where missing class was tolerated. Infact irregular students were disciplined with being given transfer certificates and told to leave. A college has to maintain its name and credibility. We need to bring these attitudes to into a lax Asia.

That is why, 75% attendance is really a very liberal attitude of my college. I would not give any attendance allowances at all to any student, except for illness or accidents with proper hospital certificates. Only if there is a genuine reason should a student be given time off and allowed to defer taking his exam.

We need to be tough yet understanding parents. We have to not go off the ledge when it comes to supporting our kids, as they will misuse that attitude, to their own detriment. Look at the success stories of students who have topped their classes and gone on to be successful in their chosen fields. They are not the skinchers, the ones who bunked college, the ones who whined and got their parents to cover their lazy backs. They took college head on and worked towards topping their classes. I have many in class in that league and those are the ones, who bring me joy, not the lazy ones who have the immature parents.

75% I would make it 100% in a heart beat.