Page 69 - EW July 2024

tion and making it the base for careers
(and) restoring the rights of States to
determine their selection process for
professional courses,” he tweeted.
But although the causes of social
justice and inclusivity may be served
by the TN government’s contention,
the ground zero reality is that with 67
school exam boards operational across
the country, there are wide variations
in education quality and assessment
standards. Medical education experts
argue that non-standardisation and
wide variation in scores awarded by
state boards necessitates a common
pan-India test for aspiring medical
practitioners. Stalin: broken system Rao: school improvement precondition
“ THE CURRENT NEET crisis Calcutta high court alleging irregu- Election 2024 campaign had high-

larities and corruption in annual TET
is symptomatic of a failed
lighted corruption-free governance
state that is unable to ensure
the ruling TMC government’s educa-
in office at the Centre. After initially
high-quality school educa- exams. In July 2022, the CBI arrested as its biggest achievement of a decade
tion. Like in most countries, tion minister Partha Chatterjee after denying charges of negligence, nepo-
standardised schooling of good quality a huge stash of Rs.100 crore in bank tism and hasty establishment of NTA,
enables admission to colleges based notes was found in the flat of his mis- Union education minister Dharmen-
on marks obtained in the final school tress. Similar exam scams plague most dra Pradhan has gone into full damage
examination. But in India, since stan- states of the country. The outcome of control mode. He sacked NTA chief
dards are so varied and quality not continuous and uninterrupted cor- Subodh Kumar and appointed retired
assured, examinations for most pro- ruption in public exams is that it has IAS officer Pradeep Singh Kharola as
fessional courses are centralised. Due eroded public faith and trust in the the new Director-General; ordered a
to the tough competition, commit- larger system. CBI inquiry into the scam; and con-
ting irregularities for monetary gains Highly respected public intellectual stituted a high-level seven-member
becomes a great incentive. Clearly, Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta, a former committee under the chairmanship of
the long-term solution is improv- vice chancellor of the top-ranked pri- Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, former chair-
ing schooling quality, decentralising vate Ashoka University, warns that the man, ISRO and chairman Board of
examinations, and institutionalising adverse impact of centralised national Governors, IIT-Kanpur, to “improve
strict oversight and governance to re- exams such as NEET-UG could erode functioning of NTA and ensure trans-
store confidence and credibility. Till public faith in the democratic system parent, smooth and fair conduct of
that is done, the leakage of papers of governance. “Exams function as examinations”.
will continue to plague us,” writes K. a legitimating ideology in a system Moreover on June 21, the BJP-led
Sujatha Rao, former Union health marked by extreme scarcity. The more NDA government notified the Public
secretary, Government of India in the relative scarcity we produce, by failing Examinations (Prevention of Unfair
Indian Express (June 21). to create more and better institutions, Means) Act 2024. The Act mandates
Given the mad annual scramble for by failing to create jobs, the more the stringent penalties for those found
admission into a limited number of stakes in the exam system. So a col- guilty of exam malpractices including
good quality, top-ranked HEIs, scams, lapse in trust in the exam system is a minimum jail term of three years,
scandals and question paper leakages tantamount to a collapse in trust in extendable to five years, plus a fine
are also ubiquitous in state-level ex- the system as a whole,” warns Mehta of up to Rs.10 lakh for individuals
ams. But the scale of their impact is in The Indian Express (June 25). involved in leaking question papers
limited. For instance in the eastern Unprecedented middle class anger or tampering with answer sheets.
state of West Bengal, the Teacher Eli- against the shame and scandals in Service providers involved in public
gibility Test (TET) exam for recruit- NEET-UG 2024 emerging everyday exam frauds can be fined up to Rs.1
ment of government school teachers has become a huge embarrassment crore and sentenced to five-10 years
has been a running scandal since 2012 for the newly sworn-in Modi-led NDA in prison for malfeasance.
with a spate of petitions filed in the 3.0 government, which in its General “This Act was much-needed and

JULY 2024 EDUCATIONWORLD 69