IITJEE – Rarely does one see a string of alphabets command the kind of awe, respect and fear, as these have for over a few decades now. For a generation of the middle class in India, the JEE became a tool to shine out from among the teeming millions – success at which was not just a feather in your own cap, but a bag full of brags for all your near and dear ones from the ‘Ludhiana waali Mausiji’ to the extremely ‘door ke cousin’ who had never, otherwise, bothered to check on your life.

After the usual routine of coaching, and last minute earnest appeals to the almighty, I had managed to scrape through the exam some years back, with a not-so-hep four digit rank. However, a little over five years of being associated with this tag of having ‘cracked’ the JEE, I have come to adore the exam and what it stands for. And now that I am being told that the JEE will be a thing of the past in another year or so, I am not happy at all, and here I am, venting my spleen against those who perpetrated this hasty move – instead of making the most of my last few days at IIM Calcutta. Well, so much for qualifying the bias that I bring along with this piece.

We are aware of the new proposal mooted by the HRD Ministry and ratified in principle by the various other stakeholders (I so love this word after 2 years of management studies!). Now, this new system seems a lot like the SAT in the US, and I have always been an unabashed admirer of the education system in the west. However, I have never been one for trying to replicate their systems in our higher education, especially with these changes being more ornamental than structural. I recently read how the more holistic selection criteria in the hallowed schools of the US traced its origin to a ploy by the Christian elite to stem the dominance of Jews in higher education in the west. So(say we accept the theory) if learning from their system is even part of the motivation, we can surely discount the merit of that decision!

I’ll move on to the idea of giving weightage to board exam marks. Firstly, there is the issue of normalization with the wide array of state and central boards, and their whimsical ideas on distribution of marks. Talking of science subjects, one does not need to highlight the amount of rote learning, and formula plugging that makes up the entire syllabi which presents quite an antithesis to what the JEE has always stood for.

“The new system will stem the coaching business”, they say. I wonder how that follows. If at all, it might only lead to an increase in the trend. If I knew I had only one shot at getting into a college of my choice (or any college of worth in this new scenario), I would leave no stone unturned to ensure that my preparation for that day is immaculate. And whoever said that students do not take coaching for board exams? If that becomes a factor in their undergraduate admissions, the coaching centers will merely have to change their value proposition (here I go again!). The number of children who attend coaching sessions beyond school hours has gone up hugely even in kindergarten. Does that require a revamp of our kindergarten syllabi or a massive overhaul of our mentality?

I am also miffed by the HRD’s constant efforts to move towards a more benevolent and egalitarian society! Firstly, grades were introduced in Class 10 to reduce the pressure on young minds. Some of us saw a bit of logic to it and kept mum. Then there was this issue of increasing reservations in higher education. We protested but to no avail. Then we saw the sudden proliferation of IITs (nearly rivaling that of the feline creatures in our campus) to ‘provide world class education to all’. We just sat back and watched as the directors of these ‘Institutes of National Importance’ cowed down to governmental pressure, thereby diluting a assiduously established brand. And now this! The irony of the situation is evident when I see the current crop of 8-12 year olds slogging it out and learning tennis, singing, abacus, etc. in a bid to outdo the kid next door, and on the other hand I see the authorities worrying over the ability of 16 year olds to take the pressure of a board exam.

Do we have an alternative? I believe we do. Firstly, we need to relook at our school curricula, and attempt at building minds that are more adept at handling uncertainty, and strong-willed individuals who don’t crumble at the slightest hint of duress. There has to be a conscious drive to stem the advent of ‘tiger moms’ (and Hitler dads?) who fail to understand that scoring less than 99 pc can be perfectly fine! The government could start by developing world class institutes in Arts, Commerce, Law, and the numerous other professions which have been languishing in the shadows of Engineering and medicine all these years. And when I say ‘develop’, I mean – gradually- and not by naming some already existent building ‘XYZ’. And while they are at it, it would be my sincere request to them to stop fiddling with the portals of education that have served India exceedingly well for over half a century now.

Select Sources:

http://history-world.org/history_of_education.htm

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/iit-jee-set-to-go-40-weightage-for-class-12/905885/