MUMBAI, June 8: Does South Mumbai have all the money, and suburbs all the brains? Quite possible, say experts and point towards this year's HSC results, wherein some of the most prestigious south Mumbai colleges, including St Xavier's, Sydenham, Elphinston and Wilson have fared poorly, while suburban colleges like Ruparel and Poddar, have yet again done exceedingly well.

This year, St Xavier's has only two students in the merit list in individual subjects and three in arts stream, while Sydenham has only one student in the individual subject list. None from the other two colleges come even close to hallowed ranks. In sharp contrast, Ruparel has 19 students in the general merit list, while Poddar has 17 in the commerce list.

A member of Forum for Fairness in Education, Professor J N Shah links this phenomenon to the shift in the population profile. ``Following the rise in real estate prices, a large number of middle-class families have moved to the suburbs in search of better living conditions. With them have moved a whole lot middle-class students who take studies more seriously than their rich, south Mumbai counterparts.''

Thus, colleges in the town have been left with not-so academically inclined, upper-class students for whom high score in HSC is not the only way to rise in life.

This shift in population has been accompanied by a definite shift in the balance of education too. For one, some of best private tutorials are now based in the suburbs.

And if some of the students Express Newsline spoke to today are to be believed, private tutorials score over colleges as far as grooming a meritorious student is concerned.

Here, the great geographical divide becomes rather blurred. Students from almost every college believe that private tutorial can make a real difference in where you stand in the merit list.

Kinjal Mukesh Shah, a student of science from the Jai Hind college, who stood second in the city and is just one mark behind the Ruparel topper Rahul Chawathe, insists the test series he underwent at one of the coaching classes did the trick for him. In spite of having a science teacher for father, Mithibai's Malikal Jim Thomson, who stood seventh in the science stream, attributes his high score to the private tutorials he attended.

There are some dissenting voices, though. Mithibai's Sanjanwala Parishi Shyam, who stood 10th in the arts faculty, feels that tutorials did not contribute to her success in any way. ``Attendance, aptitude and hard work, are enough fodder for a good score in Arts,'' she says.

Ruparel, which has been sweeping the merit list year after year, is one college which seems to have understood the importance of coaching classes and has even managed to turn their influence to its own advantage. The college runs its own coaching classes where students are given exam-oriented training.

Meanwhile, this year's results were quite a shocker for the Jai Hind college. Though the college has eight students in the general merit list, which is very impressive considering its previous year's performance, 22 of its arts students have failed. Principal N W Shivdasani is very disappointed. ``Our students never fare so badly. We will have to find out what went wrong,'' Shivdasani told Express Newsline. The students, however feel something definitely went wrong in the paper appraisal.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.