Examinations are the bane of students the world over, even if a subject is interesting, the fact that one will be examined at the end of the course/semester is the biggest dampener.But imagine if your future life, profession, everything depends on this one exam, and if the exam ends in a fiasco, which is not due to your fault, but of the agency conducting the exams, how would you feel? Well, that is exactly what has been meted out to the students in the last couple of years. Almost every exam, especially NEET, which ceased to be neat long ago,(https://thesuyashsharma.com/neet-not-so-neat-after-all/), 24 months to be precise, where it has almost become a norm to conduct a re-examination, mostly due to paper leak, or due to other considerations, such as evaluation, questions being wrong etc. The fact that by and large the students have not only maintained their calm and have taken the whole issue rather stoically speaks volumes about their patience and seriousness about pursuing their dreams. But the patience has its limits, as the govt agencies conducting these exams carry on bungling, it is about time that those responsible be brought to book themselves.
The pressures are huge, with about 24 lakh candidates registering for NEET, CUET and CBSE exams, for each. Obviously it is a herculean task, especially with unscrupulous elements out to look for procedural lapses to be exploited, to benefit the highest bidders. Unfortunately merely trying to address the conduct of exams per se is treating the systems rather than the disease. The disease here is in our education system itself, which has been rotting away over the last eight odd decades. Since schools and colleges prove grossly inadequate to impart quality education, it is left to coaching institutions to prepare the aspiring students for the competitive exams. These competitive exams are made out as ‘make or break’ for the poor hapless teens already under pressure from their parents, as cracking these exams appears to be the golden key to life’s treasures. ‘All is fair in love and war’ and this issue is a war without an iota of doubt. Naturally it implies, success at all costs, using means fair or foul.
Education ceased to be holistic long ago, today it is just a means to obtain a degree, which provides the youth with an outside chance to crack the employment jigsaw puzzle. Everyone wants a white collar job, blue collar is considered menial, deep down it stems from the caste system itself. A skilled worker earns a lot more as compared to the unemployable graduate, who will at best be a gig worker, as there are no jobs in the market.
Govt schools and colleges were pretty good until the eighties, as the oldies who passed through their portals acquitted themselves with distinction in their professional careers. My father’s generation is proof enough. But somewhere in the eighties the rot began to set in, as new schools/colleges were not being opened despite the exponential population rise. There was no fresh recruitment of teachers, contractual hiring was resorted to, with an aim to save the exchequer some funds. In the last couple of decades colleges, universities have mushroomed everywhere, with no checks and balances, these institutions produce grads, post grads by thousands, who do not have to attend any classes. The exams conducted are a sham, consequently, the freshly minted graduate armed with a degree has no knowledge of any of the subjects. A commerce grad who doesn’t know what a balance sheet is, or an IT engineer who can’t write a simple three lines code, as they have cleared the exams through leaked papers or through other means in the compromised system. This graduate is a very dangerous person, as he/she is unsuitable for any job as he has no knowledge but armed with his degree, he considers himself wronged and is naturally frustrated.
Is a course correction possible? Well, yes of course, treat education as a key area, as our civilisation depends on this crucial factor. The root cause is corruption, the agencies are corrupt, naturally every rule is given a go by. Bureaucracy, when found wanting like in the recent fiasco is punished by mere transfers, which I am afraid is no punishment. It may actually be a reward, since they may land up in a more lucrative department where there are better opportunities, with even less accountability. So revert to govt run institutions, recruit permanent teachers, pay them better and do away with all these coaching institutions, incorporate them in the teaching curriculum itself. Conduct the exams, year round, with minimum three chances for improvement of scores. Create a special organisation for conduct of all professional exams, which should be headed by technocrats like Nilekeni and educationists with no interference by the bureaucracy. As the Air Force is being utilised for ferrying the papers, I dare say, employ the veterans from the armed forces for conduct of exams also. They won’t let you down.
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