VICES OF COMPETITIVE EXAMS IN INDIA

          

Last year the first cut off list for non commerce students in DU (for commerce subjects) touched 100%. The news was quite astonishing for the common mob. The extent of absurdity regarding this issue should come under close surveillance. The varsity authorities cannot be blamed for this scenario since there has been a catastrophic rise in the number of students who have scored more than 95% as compared to last year. This trend has been continuing. Hence the blame of the present predicament cannot be entirely put on the college for setting the cut off marks so high. This rate of competition gives goose bumps to many parents and is quite unnerving. With the kind of population explosion that we are experiencing in our country now, coupled with the enhanced competition, soon we are going to witness demand exceeding supply and students will have to study as they have never done before (just to get a seat in their desired college).

     This brings our educational system or in fact our educational infrastructure into close scrutiny. The underlying reason for high cut offs in institutions pivots around the fact that India lacks adequate high standard colleges which meet the aspirations of many students. There aren’t many colleges that can meet the demands of the twenty first century modern generation students (and also their parents) and provide them with satisfactory infrastructure.

       The HRD ministry’s vision to set up an Ivy League standard educational system remains a thing to be implemented. But do we possess the requisite infrastructure to create such a system? It is quite bewildering that when the private institutes can set up such an infrastructure and attract students purely on the basis of advertisement and benefits, then why can’t the government achieve such a feat? Also for a varsity to be successful, a lot depends upon the kind of faculty it has. But the fact that the Indian varsities lack credible faculty cannot be denied. Many of the brightest minds of our country like Dr. Amartya Sen, Jagdish Bhagwati, etc. are professors in foreign varsities. Are the Indian Institutions not good enough for them or are our own institutions prejudiced indifferently by our own men?

         The plight of other examinations looks bleak and gloomy. For a young mind, the first national level examination (after 12^th) is the engineering or the medical examination. Then comes the CAT exam which paves your way to the IIMs. The students get under the skin of these examinations to come out victorious. The number of institutions (or seats) do not commensurate the number of students aspiring to occupy those seats. This leads to a ‘rat race’ that often proves detrimental to more number of students. Now coming to the mother of all examinations, the civil services examination, (the IAS examination) is considered to be the most difficult ordeal in the field of academics. People from all background viz. science, arts, commerce, etc. appear for this exam. It is a tedious and grilling process that tests your patience and keeps nagging and prodding your sub conscious mind. With the advent of financial crisis looming in the global market, and the innate urge of certain section of people to go for ‘sarkari’ jobs, the number of applicants are increasing year after year. Here a candidate is tested physically, morally and mentally through a series of robust examinations.

         Coming to the stress factor, the HRD ministry has proposed and implemented various plans. A single examination for admission into engineering and medical colleges (JEE and NEET) has to a certain extent reduced the stress and level of competition that the students have to go through. A ‘grade’ system replacing absolute marks has brought smile to many parents. It received the allegiance of a certain section of students but derived scepticism regarding the various repercussions that it may bring out. Suicides haven’t died out but definitely reduced. Such a prudent act of the ministry has to be appreciated, which had otherwise stagnated.

        

          With the evolution of society, the common man which was earlier hen-pecked, is more knowledgeable regarding the

Opportunities that can be grabbed. The aspirations and ambitions of a middle class man have enhanced considerably and he has the access to various help which earlier looked distantly possible (the expensive coaching classes, the eBooks, internet, etc.). The privileged ones refuse to be one among the herd and transgress the stereotypic paths. With various anomalies and aberrations, he chases his dream and passion and is ready to take the plunge. With such a mentality, cut throat competition is untenable. It will be highly unpragmatic and juvenile on our part to imagine such a scenario unless the government is proactive and makes radical changes in the robust educational system in our country. Proper counselling needs to be done to sedate the volatile adolescent minds to deal with failures. It is imperative to improve the educational infrastructure both in terms of quantity and quality to accommodate such a large demography.