Page 72 - EducationWorld August 2022

Special Report

M a j o r c o m m o n e n t r a n c e e x a m s a b r o a d

everal countries around the world have mandated nation- enter undergrad programmes in South Korea’s 200 universi-
Swide common entrance exams to enable top rankers first ties. The government-run Korea Institute of Curriculum and
right to select undergrad colleges/universities of their choice. Evaluation (KICE) conducts this exam on the third Thursday
China. The National College Entrance Examination aka gaokao in November.
is a national college/university entrance exam held annually Like gaokao, it’s exceptionally difficult with teachers
on June 7-8 across the country. Gaokao rank/score is the specially selected to prepare questions for the nationwide
sole determinant for admission into top-ranked universities. test. Every September, about 500 teachers from across
Administered by the ministry of education, it is notorious for South Korea are selected and driven to a secret location in
being one of the toughest exams worldwide with the nine-hour the mountainous province of Gangwon. For a month, their
exam staged over two days testing everything students have phones are confiscated and all contact with the outside world
studied from kindergarten to class XII. In 2022, it was written is banned to enable them to set questions for suneung. Last
by 11.9 million higher secondary students who are admitted year, 500,000 students wrote the test.
into the republic’s 2,100 universities. USA. The New York-based College Board, a private, not-
According to media reports, the gaokao is an important for-profit organisation, administers the Scholastic Aptitude
national event during which the country comes to a grinding Test (SAT), a standardised exam written by school-leavers
halt. Construction work near examination halls is halted and worldwide (3 million students in over 170 countries) aspiring
traffic is diverted, to enable students to write the exam undis- to enter American colleges. Premier universities including
turbed, as police patrol the streets to abate noise pollution. Ivy League institutions such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton
Ambulances are on standby in case students suffer nervous shortlist — they are not obliged to admit — students with high
breakdowns. When the results are finally announced, toppers SAT scores. The famous SAT measures literacy, numeracy
are celebrated nationally. and writing skills. Over 4,000 colleges/universities in the US
South Korea. The College Scholastic Ability Test aka suneung is and 85 other countries shortlist students on the basis of SAT
a standardised compulsory exam for school-leavers aspiring to score for admission into undergrad degree programmes.

wants parity with private universities. CUET and will tag on additional ad-
I T’S PERTINENT TO NOTE that fight in CUET is for the 1.36 lakh seats
mission criteria. Therefore, the real

offered annually by the country’s heav-
private universities who have
opted to admit students on the
especially Delhi University’s premier
basis of CUET rank/score have ily subsidised 45 Central universities,
done so conditionally. For instance 90 affiliated colleges which routinely
NIIT University, Neemrana (Rajast- top media league tables of India’s best
han), which has opted to accept CUET colleges. DU is the exception among
score for undergrad admissions, has Central universities, none of which
prescribed several additional eligibil- affiliate undergrad/postgrad colleges.
ity criteria such as minimum class XII Yet the loudest criticism against
score (50-60 percent) and ‘admission CUET is that it has given a huge boost
interaction’. to India’s Rs.40,000 crore private test
“We admit students on the basis of prep and coaching industry hitherto
their scores in several national tests Khanna: conditional acceptance focused on prepping higher-secondary
such as IIT-JEE, NEET, BITSAT in students to top the notoriously com-
addition to our own NIIT University University. Nevertheless though NIIT petitive IIT-JEE and NEET public ex-
Aptitude Test. CUET is the latest ad- doesn’t admit undergrads solely on ams for admission into the country’s
dition. But our admission process is the basis of CUET score, he believes 23 Indian Institutes of Technology
multi-input and holistic. Scores in its introduction is “a positive develop- and 596 medical colleges, especially
approved public exams, academic re- ment that has created a level field for government colleges which provide
cord and performance in curricular, students from across the country, and excellent professional education at
sports and cultural activities apart, all across all school exam boards”. rock-bottom price.
students have to clear our Admission Similarly, top-ranked private and Within 24 hours of announcement
Interaction which involves two-way state government universities which of CUET on March 21, the mega-
dialogue with faculty,” explains rof . have welcomed CUET are unlikely to bucks private test prep industry went
P
Raje sh K hanna, president of NIIT admit students solely on the basis of into overdrive, launching short-term

72 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2022