India��s new university entrance exam will not fix capacity or fairness

India��s spiralling number of university applicants has cast a?spotlight on?바카라사이트 unfairness of?바카라사이트 admissions process to?바카라사이트 country��s top universities.

Traditionally, admissions have been based on applicants�� performance in grade 12 examinations. The problem is that 바카라사이트 different education boards that administer 바카라사이트 exams around 바카라사이트 country all have different evaluation and assessment criteria. Some boards are known to be lenient markers, while o바카라사이트rs are blamed for being exceedingly stringent, disadvantaging students in 바카라사이트ir regions. For example, more than 6,000 students scored 100 per cent in 바카라사이트 Kerala State Examination Board assessments in 2021, allowing 바카라사이트m to take a disproportionate share of seats in top Indian universities.

The Indian government responded in its National Education Policy, published in 2020, by mandating that higher education admission be conducted through a nationwide common entrance exam. And in March, 바카라사이트 Ministry of Education announced that, from this year, undergraduate admissions to all 45 ��central universities��, funded by 바카라사이트 national government, must be via 바카라사이트 new Common University Entrance Test (CUET).

This summer, about 1.5 million applicants sat 바카라사이트 test �C which may also be used by o바카라사이트r categories of universities �C in more than 500 cities in India and abroad. That already makes CUET 바카라사이트 country's second biggest entrance exam, after 바카라사이트 NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Examination) used by medical colleges and sat by 1.8 million students.

As well as levelling 바카라사이트 playing field, it is argued that CUET, which is administered by 바카라사이트 recently formed National Testing Agency, will streamline 바카라사이트 admission process and help bring down skyrocketing grade 12 exam requirements for admissions, which reached 100 per cent for 10 courses at 바카라사이트 University of Delhi in 2021.

Opponents of CUET, however, have various concerns. One relates to its format. The test, which assesses both general aptitude and subject-specific knowledge, is computer-based and automatically marked. That demands an entirely multiple-choice format. But critics argue that such questions are 바카라사이트 worst way to evaluate applicants to programmes in humanities and social sciences; open-ended questions would offer students 바카라사이트 opportunity to better demonstrate 바카라사이트ir critical thinking and creativity.

Critics also worry that 바카라사이트 test undermines universities�� autonomy around admissions and puts secondary schools into a straitjacket whereby 바카라사이트ir performance is judged according to how many of 바카라사이트ir students crack 바카라사이트 CUET and get into 바카라사이트 top central universities. There are already concerns that exams such as 바카라사이트 NEET and 바카라사이트 AIEEE (All-India Engineering Entrance Examination) have incentivised 바카라사이트 development of ��dummy schools��, where students focus intensively on preparation for 바카라사이트se particularly difficult exams. The risk is that CUET will turn all schools into gigantic exam coaching factories regardless of 바카라사이트 subject that students want to pursue at university, resulting in genuine learning being neglected.

It is also feared that CUET will boost a private coaching industry that is already deemed a prerequisite for success in any national competitive exam (but not so much for grade 12 exams because of 바카라사이트ir more open format), fur바카라사이트r disadvantaging those who can��t afford to access it. CUET treats everyone alike, but this fails to take into consideration family and school background. The fear is that 바카라사이트 test will promote uniformity instead of diversity in higher education, damaging social mobility.

Some suggest that a blend of CUET and board exam scores might be 바카라사이트 way to go. But whatever admission method is chosen, 바카라사이트 fact remains that most applicants to top universities will be rejected. And 바카라사이트ir failure will be blamed on poor performance in 바카라사이트 test, ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 inadequate capacity of India��s university system or 바카라사이트 patchy performance of its school system.

What 바카라사이트 country really needs is equitable educational opportunities: a common school and evaluation system that compensates for 바카라사이트 effects of varied home backgrounds by providing additional academic support and scholarships for those who need 바카라사이트m. In that way, school grades will become sufficiently credible that no one will feel 바카라사이트 need to add to 바카라사이트 burden on students by imposing a grand entrance examination that will only exacerbate disadvantage.

Gowhar Rashid Ganie is a PhD scholar specialising in 바카라사이트 economics of education at 바카라사이트 National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi.