Competitive exams and our education system

To choose worthy applicants on a fair means, an egalitarian (meaning: characterized by belief in equality) method was devised without risking influence peddling, bribing and other concerns. This procedure of selecting deserving candidates for their respective courses is called a ‘Competitive exam’. In a heavily populated country like ours we have millions of aspirants working hard to get through these exams to get a seat in a respectable institution. When we look at the education system prevailing in this fast growing country, we observe that it does not really compliment with the level of difficulty these exams pose. Some commonly known entrance exams are: IIT JEE, Civil Services Exam (CSE), EAMCET, CAT, AIPMT, UPSC etc. An interesting fact about civil services exam CSE is that it is considered as one of the toughest examination in the world with a success rate of 0.1%-0.3%. That means, if 100,000 candidates apply for the exam, only 12,000 will be selected for the 2nd round. Out of the 12,000 only top 2000 will be called for the final interview out of which only 1000 will be selected. Effects of these exams on the students: The mechanism of these exams has both positive and negative effects on the takers. On the positive side, a sense of competitive spirit is encouraged in the individual, the hunger to excel is cultivated, time and resource management is built, patience and perseverance is developed. When we look at the ill effects of these competitive exams, we observe increased levels of stress and anxiety, creativity is lost, rote learning is practiced more which does not help in gaining any knowledge, inferiority complex on not being able to be at par with other excelling students, fear of losing which leads to fear of not getting into the desired institution which further results in the fear of unemployment as the stereotypes say “a good institute results in quick and good employment”. OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM: I feel India’s education system as a stumbling block towards its objectives of achieving inclusive growth. Face the facts: India has about 550 million people under the age of 25 years out of which only 11% are enrolled in tertiary institutions compared to the world’s average of 23%. The critical aspect of Indian public education system is the low quality of education, which relates to the low quality of teaching faculty available, weak infrastructure and limited resources. It is important for the government to improve resource allocation to bring about qualitative changes in the field of education. Common schooling is one of the ways in which government can use limited resources in an efficient way and thus improve resource allocation. Our education system’s failure is leading to another social issue of income inequality. If the government does not improve education system particularly in rural areas, the rich will become richer and the poor will get poorer. Hence, it is imperative for the government to correct the blemishes in India’s education system which will also be a step towards reducing income inequality resulting in a much fairer system for all groups of people. Source: The Companion