{"id":115517,"date":"2024-06-20T19:11:41","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T13:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/?post_type=editorial-analysis&#038;p=115517"},"modified":"2024-06-22T13:01:26","modified_gmt":"2024-06-22T07:31:26","slug":"competitive-exams-in-india","status":"publish","type":"editorial-analysis","link":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/editorial-analysis\/competitive-exams-in-india","title":{"rendered":"Rethink Competitive Exams in India, Evaluate a Broader Set of Student Capabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India would do better by using <\/span><b>proper selection methods <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">over stressful tests for admission to top colleges, especially IITs. The<\/span><b> false notion of &#8216;merit&#8217; <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">needs to be rethought and <\/span><b>top-quality institutions <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">should devise new ways to fill their seats.<\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100.301%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th style=\"width: 100%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000; background-color: rgba(184, 165, 217, 0.53); text-align: left; vertical-align: middle;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Relevancy for Mains:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Impacts of competitive entrance examinations on students and their families, Alternative assessment methods for competitive entrance, etc.<\/span><\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Rethink Competitive Exams in India<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The central conceit of colleges such as <\/span><b>Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is that they are the best. The oxygen that gives life to this conceit is that they get the<\/span><b> \u2018best\u2019 students.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"vc_button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pw.live\/batches\/upsc?utm_source=seo+upsc+batch&#038;utm_medium=seo+upsc&#038;utm_campaign=seo&#038;utm_id=upsc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Enroll now for UPSC Online Course<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018Best\u2019 here has a specific meaning, referring to students who are <\/span><b>hard-working and focused,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and who adapt well to certain kinds of testing.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These three capacities stand them in good stead <\/span><b>even after they graduate.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, these are a<\/span><b> small subset of the skills<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that are desirable and necessary in life.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Admission to these colleges is through a<\/span><b> competitive exam <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">where students are rank ordered; a few thousand get in and <\/span><b>millions get \u2018rejected.\u2019\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But this doesn\u2019t mean that those who did not get admission were <\/span><b>not worthy of such education.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is just that these colleges <\/span><b>did not have enough seats<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If there were enough seats, it is likely a very large number of the students would get in, because then <\/span><b>admission would be based on an assessment <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of whether a given student has the requisite capacities to participate in, and benefit from, the <\/span><b>educational programme.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This would be determined by a set of <\/span><b>qualifying criteria<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> assessed by the examination.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Currently, these so-called <\/span><b>competitive entrance examinations<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are really an <\/span><b>elimination exercise and not a selection.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The latter would admit all those who qualify based on the set of criteria. Let\u2019s now consider three <\/span><b>other related issues<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>First<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the sort of testing these exams do <\/span><b>cannot assess <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">other important life capacities such as <\/span><b>creativity, deep conceptual understanding and the application of it<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, not to mention social capacities and genuine interests.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The<\/span><b> societal value<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of these other capacities gets undermined by the testing system, since \u2018cracking\u2019 these tests matter hugely to too many, <\/span><b>driving mass aspirations<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Second<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, such super high-stakes exams are one of the <\/span><b>primary causes of social, mental and economic problems <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">among aspiring students and their families, and for many more who can\u2019t even participate in this race.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This national malaise is well known.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Third<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, let\u2019s get rid of the <\/span><b>false idea of \u2018merit.\u2019<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Such tests are blunt instruments without the precision that can guarantee <\/span><b>consistent differentiation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> between two or more students.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Test repetition could <\/span><b>raise a student\u2019s rank.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In any case, it assesses a <\/span><b>narrow set of capacities <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">from a much wider set that should determine \u2018merit,\u2019 even if we partially accept the dodgy idea that there is something called <\/span><b>\u2018merit\u2019 intrinsic to people.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, rank ordering by such an entrance test is<\/span><b> not a reflection of merit.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Given all those problems, can we think of a better way of selection?\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let us consider one such method, credit for the core idea of which must go to my colleague, Ramchandar.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It would be much better to use assessment methods that can <\/span><b>assess many more capacities and in greater depth; <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">some of our board examinations are being improved to become more like this.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><b>basic set of qualifying criteria <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">can be determined for any of these examinations.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These criteria would tell us that the student has <\/span><b>adequate capacity to participate and learn<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from the higher education programme that she is seeking admission to.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All the students who pass exams with these qualifying criteria would be <\/span><b>eligible for admission<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to these institutions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As an example, let\u2019s assume that these criteria are marked by the <\/span><b>achievement of 70% in each of four subjects.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If 10,000 students have this qualification and only 2,000 seats are available, then a <\/span><b>randomized selection is made<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, once a student has demonstrated the relevant qualifying capacities, then it is a <\/span><b>matter of chance <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">whether the person makes it to a certain college or not.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>What would this method achieve?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>First,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> it will dramatically <\/span><b>reduce the pressure<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on students and their families.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They only need to make sure that they<\/span><b> achieve the examination\u2019s qualifying numbers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and beyond that they know it\u2019s a matter of chance; this way, there is no competitive pressure of elimination.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This will significantly <\/span><b>relieve the mental, social and economic stress<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that families suffer.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Second<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, since these examinations will assess a much <\/span><b>broader set of capacities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> versus the narrow ones being tested today, this change will help improve our education.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, this narrowing of educational aims, driven by the narrow focus of current competitive entrance examinations, is also contributing in some sense to the<\/span><b> narrowing of our society and collective competence.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Third<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, now our so-called <\/span><b>best colleges <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">will be tested on<\/span><b> how good their education <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">really is.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is because incoming students will have <\/span><b>broad capacities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, rather than being chosen on narrow ones concentrated on doing well in <\/span><b>standard-format exams.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What about those students who are<\/span><b> not given admission <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">despite demonstrating the qualifying skills because of <\/span><b>inadequate seats in these colleges?\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From a numbers perspective, the situation will be <\/span><b>no different from today.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet, it will be much<\/span><b> better for all those who do not get admission<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> because they would know they missed out by chance, versus the situation today, where the <\/span><b>message is that they are unworthy of seats.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The real solution for our country is to <\/span><b>build adequate capacity in high quality higher education institutions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, so that all those who aspire for such education can be accommodated.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But that may take a <\/span><b>long time to become a reality.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Till then, we must address this <\/span><b>national malaise afflicting our young<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the insidious role of the current system in narrowing the collective capacity of our society.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"vc_button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/store.pw.live\/govt-entrance-exams\/upsc-books\/upsc-textbooks?utm_source=SEO&#038;utm_medium=PW+Live&#038;utm_campaign=UPSC+Textbooks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check Out UPSC NCERT Textbooks From PW Store<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>Reforming entrance exams<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to assess broader skills and use <\/span><b>random selection <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">can reduce stress, improve education quality, and <\/span><b>challenge the current narrow focus on merit.<\/b><\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100.299%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th style=\"border-style: solid; border-color: #000000; background-color: rgba(184, 165, 217, 0.53); text-align: left; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Mains Question:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/mains-answer-writing\/critically-evaluate-the-impact-of-competitive-entrance-examinations-on-the-mental-health-and-socio-economic-well-being-of-students-in-india-what-alternative-assessment-methods-could-be-implemented-t-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q. Critically evaluate the impact of competitive entrance examinations on the mental health and socio-economic well-being of students and their families in India. What alternative assessment methods could be implemented to alleviate these pressures?\u00a0 \u00a0(15 Marks, 250 Words)<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100.231%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 138.148%; text-align: center; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\" colspan=\"2\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><b>Must Read<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50.5357%; text-align: center; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/editorial-analysis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UPSC Daily Editorials<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 87.6119%; text-align: center; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/daily-current-affairs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UPSC Daily Current Affairs<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50.5357%; text-align: center; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/store.pw.live\/govt-entrance-exams\/upsc-books\/upsc-textbooks?utm_source=SEO&#038;utm_medium=PW+Live&#038;utm_campaign=UPSC+Textbooks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check Out UPSC NCERT Textbooks From PW Store<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 87.6119%; text-align: center; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/store.pw.live\/govt-entrance-exams\/upsc-books\/upsc-modules?utm_source=SEO&#038;utm_medium=PW+Live&#038;utm_campaign=UPSC+Modules\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check Out UPSC Modules From PW Store<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50.5357%; text-align: center; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/store.pw.live\/govt-entrance-exams\/upsc-books\/upsc-previous-year-papers?utm_source=SEO&#038;utm_medium=PW+Live&#038;utm_campaign=UPSC+Previous+Year+Papers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check Out Previous Years Papers From PW Store<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 87.6119%; text-align: center; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/upsc-test-series-courses\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UPSC Test Series 2024<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50.5357%; text-align: center; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/quiz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Daily Current Affairs Quiz<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 87.6119%; text-align: center; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/mains-answer-writing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Daily Main Answer Writing<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 138.148%; text-align: center; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\" colspan=\"2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/store.pw.live\/govt-entrance-exams\/upsc-books?utm_source=SEO&#038;utm_medium=PW+Live&#038;utm_campaign=UPSC+CSE+Books\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check Out UPSC CSE Books From PW Store<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India would do better by using proper selection methods over stressful tests for admission to top colleges, especially IITs. The false notion of &#8216;merit&#8217; needs to be rethought and top-quality institutions should devise new ways to fill their seats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":115673,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"paper-wise":[],"subject":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/editorial-analysis\/115517"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/editorial-analysis"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/editorial-analysis"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115517"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/editorial-analysis\/115517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115783,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/editorial-analysis\/115517\/revisions\/115783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115517"},{"taxonomy":"paper-wise","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/paper-wise?post=115517"},{"taxonomy":"subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/subject?post=115517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}