I just step into my son's room. He resembles a zombie nowadays. His hair is rumpled; He looks dazed; He wakes up
constantly in the middle of the nights to murmur some gobbledygook; You guessed
it right, he is a student of grade 12, having completed the board exam, trying
to navigate the next steps to chart a path into the world of tertiary
education.
Need of the
hour is authentic information on colleges, courses, research quality, etc. available freely on the Internet. Every
university proclaims #1 ranking in some aspect with 100% placement in all the
courses!
Universities abroad feel an
obligation to the prospective students in terms of information sharing. In UK
for instance, there is a is a clear compendium of complete university guide
available on the Internet. Various rankings and the methodology behind it, student
– teacher ratio, alumni information, academic calendar, courses offered,
faculty details and even course and hostel fees details are published. These are validated data.
This aside,
the whole process of applying to the colleges itself is cumbersome and could
well do with some fine tuning. It has become a source of revenue for many institutions. Filling up application forms with same information
in different formats and making multiple photocopies of all required certificates
is the next task looming ahead of me. Colleges
have designed application forms to suit their admission process. They verify
all the information and documents collected. Instead the education boards can
be authorized to capture and authenticate the details in one place and share
with the universities. Many countries have switched over to a common
application for the prospective undergraduate students. This service is
provided by a government body that sends out the information to the universities.
At one stroke, it saves lot of time and removes duplication of work. This, in no way, takes the right of the
institutes to ask for more specific information.
Then comes the innumerable
entrance tests. A common aptitude test can be the basis for admission to a large
number of UG programs. Streams like
medical, law, engineering, architecture require their own tests like JEE, NEET etc. We have government as well as private institutions administering tests. Why can't the government arrive at a master list of 4 or 5 tests for admission to the UG programs in India? That way, a student will be required to take only the appropriate tests depending on the course of his desire. If it is engineering, there should be one test that is used by every university in India. Some colleges administer tests
and interviews at their campuses only, thereby including a travel agenda for
the outstation student and parents. Instead, all tests can be administered by a central body like NTA (National Testing Agency) in a flexible manner over a longer duration. Imagine if this is offered online multiple times. For example, NEET can be administered online in all district headquarters from April to June 3 times. The students can appear multiple times or once as per his/her will. The maximum distance for travel will be to the nearest district office. On top of it, if the scores can be made available to the institutes directly, think of the benefits to our student community. The institutions also stand to benefit as they get validated scores from authorized bodies of government. My imagination is running riot here!!!
Let me step back into reality. My calendar and his are full for the next few weeks with filling forms,
making photocopies, arranging for demand drafts,
appointments at colleges for application submission and booking train tickets
for tests in different cities. This is like a full-fledged project work! But
that alone is not enough.
Success is when tests and interviews are cracked and admission secured! Who
slogs and actually faces the acid tests? Oh! In the entire melee, I have
forgotten that. Pardon me, I have to rush to motivate my son!
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