DC Edit | Be Fair To The Children, Set Exam System Right
The ruckus in Parliament was created by political parties that may have been aiming to hijack the protests run by students who had legitimate reasons to harbour fears over their future. The government’s response was confrontational and not constructive in trying to rebuild confidence. This betrayed the fact that the lawmakers were more intent on treating the symptoms rather than the disease itself
After all the rumpus over Neet paper leaks and how it affected millions of lives as a retest was conducted and how it engendered a spontaneous protest by students and youth that spread organically, what we have is a law that spells out the most stringent punishment for culprits who leak question papers.
The ruckus in Parliament was created by political parties that may have been aiming to hijack the protests run by students who had legitimate reasons to harbour fears over their future. The government’s response was confrontational and not constructive in trying to rebuild confidence. This betrayed the fact that the lawmakers were more intent on treating the symptoms rather than the disease itself.
There is a plethora of warnings in the law to exam papers leakers and organised crime syndicates that play with the lives of students — more than 120 may have died in suicides associated with the stress of Neet — but there is nothing yet on whether the system of a unified entrance test must exist in its present form with all its contradictions and its clear slant favouring the rich who can afford to feed a Rs 70,000 crore coaching institute industry.
The composition of a committee headed by a technocrat may have drawn unfavourable comment in the heat of parliament debate that was too often marred by invective and comments tending to classify people in three categories that were beneath contempt. How often the debate descended into a farcical game of personal abuse tended to show up the hollowness of the legislators’ approach.
It is in how the Nandan Nilekani-led committee approaches the broad subject of a unified entrance test for the medical profession that will define what good it can do in course-correcting a system. It is obvious the system has too many inherent flaws. Tests are overseen by a national testing agency that is run with temps thus displaying a lack of seriousness in handling an extremely sensitive subject that has a direct bearing on the lives of millions of youth.
Is there a clear case for doing away with the system as it exists now and reverting to the older methods by which the tests were run regionally or state-wise rather than in one national test leading to enormous stress on candidates? It is up to the committee to examine this aspect as well though its main task would be to find a way to bring about an equivalence not prevalent today in a system that treats a rural candidate with no access to specialised coaching on par with the urban elite crowd.
The problem is not just technical which needs addressing on how the system can be made leak-proof and exams conducted in a foolproof way. It is not about crisis management. What is called for is a deeper study of the system and finding ways to make it equitable. Ideally, Neet can aim at only filling a national quota in medical and allied seats while states run their own entrance tests to seats in colleges on their soil. And running separate tests for allied subjects in nursing, paramedical, physiotherapy and allied fields might increase the value of sectoral education.
The fact is, in the age of knowledge, aspiration has globalised but opportunity in India is too limited to take care of the sheer numbers of youth involved, which is why so much emphasis is laid on centralised entrance tests. There are much larger issues that must be addressed because unemployment among the youngest is running at around 85%, according to reliable estimates. Of course, it is important that the most aspirational Neet test be redirected towards equitability first before systemic challenges are met.
