- The student community across the world has had a tough two years or so owing to the pandemic is an indisputable fact. The Indian students too were subjected to a great learning difficulty despite the authorities making efforts to undertake pedagogy through the online methodology. We all know how limited success the online teachings eventually had since the same could be catered to a fraction of the student community across the country. Thankfully, the vaccination drive has allowed the schools and colleges to resume conventional pedagogy over the last few months. However, those students looking at enrolling in professional courses like engineering and medicine have had the most challenging times stating the obvious.
PC: Erica Jabali
- Against this backdrop, the higher education authorities attempted to usher in much-needed reforms in the crucial sector by introducing measures like the common university entrance test (CUET). That CUET exams led to avoidable confusion, were marred by technical glitches, and eventually ended up further harassing the student community already under duress is well articulated. Now, efforts are underfoot by India’s higher education regulator working on a proposal to integrate engineering and medical entrance exams into the undergraduate CUET. Of course, the logic is no different from what drove both NEET and JEE’s evolution. We all know there are elements perpetually attempting to resist any changes. It’s no different here.
- Yes, these two common entrance exams too had to overcome huge resistance to go full throttle, but they have clearly proved the doomsayers wrong, setting up a more efficient and less painful pipeline to scarce seats than the glut of separate exams they replaced. In the same vein, the many agonies inflicted by a dramatically expanded CUET-UG this year too call for proceeding with utmost care. Delving further will reveal that higher education institutions that will be impacted by the CUET-NEET-JEE integration include some of India’s most cherished centers of excellence. Only through consultations with them as well as with other key stakeholders will National Testing Agency be able to arrive at robust alternative testing.
PC: Manzoor-ul-Hassan
- People in the know would agree that NEET has very high biology standards and JEE has a very high math threshold. Both these test Class XI as well as XII syllabi while CUET quizzes only the Class XII syllabus. Nonetheless, reconciling these divergent needs is quite doable with proper groundwork and NTA shouldn’t be reinventing the wheel either. Needless to mention, processes have to be developed to work across our own diverse local contexts. Mind you, any CUET-NEET-JEE integration will be looking at upwards of 43 lakh applicants. As such, don’t sabotage the noble goal of saving students from a multiplicity of exams through slapdash implementation. Thus, foolproof implementation would go a long way in ushering in a reformist measure in the country’s competitive exam scenario.
