The NEET/JEE Debate
The NEET/JEE exams are scheduled to be held between 1st and 13th September. Keeping the politics behind the protests aside, we look at how the govt could have handled the situation better.
First, we talk about why is it important to conduct the exams this year.
- Competition for next year
2019: 9.31 lakh candidates |2020: estimated 11 lakh
If the exams are not held this year, there will be more than twice the number of kids competing for the same number of seats in 2021.
The competition and pressure on the students to fare well in these exams is extremely high in India already. What kind of pressure will this put on the students, not to mention on the educational infrastructure of the country?
2. Parents have already spent Rs. 1.5–2 lakhs on coaching institutes. Will they spend another 50,000 over the next year?
3. Students who took an off-year will be 3 years behind their peers; they will essentially be a 12th class graduate while their peers are doing internships/jobs, leading to mental health degradation. Will the govt take care of these kids’ careers in the future?
4. Private institutes have already taken money to block seats. Will they refund this money in whole?
5. A large number of jobs are tied to universities, most of which are facing layoffs. A major chunk of university funding comes from student fees. Universities have let go of ad-hoc staff (such as gardeners, janitors etc.) in large numbers, while institutes are now facing the possibility of undertaking loans in the range of 5–10 crores.
Now we discuss 2 major points of concern in conducting the exams as scheduled, and how the government policies could have smoothened the process.
How will the students travel without public transport?
Fix/Solution: The government should increase the number of exam centres, and ensure they are widely spread out so it is easier for students to take the exam. Both the exams are offline and do not require infrastructure support, although they would require personnel support (hello, 6% of the GDP). Students should have the facility of changing their exam centres easily, if they want to take the exams from their hometowns. Case in Point: UPSC exams.
How will students in hotspot zones give the exam?
The government needs to implement multiple sets of exams (please see: NEP’s multiple exam plan), spread over 1–1.5 months (which is the average time taken to lift quarantine from a location). Case in point: DU is doing 2 sets of exams- 1st online and 2nd with an option of online or offline.
At the end of the day, the question is that of students’ education.
Wasting an entire year of education for students aged 18 will have drastic long term implications. While other businesses and institutions have accepted the new normal, the real debate should be about how to conduct the exams in the safest and most efficient way.
