Dear Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal,
Congratulations on taking office as HRD minister. We, Indian citizens, are expecting a lot from you. We do believe that you can make effective changes to the education system and help prepare our students to experience a robust system for the challenges that are unique to the 21st century. There couldn't be better timing than now to design a new education policy across the country. Of course, "Education" is a centre-state subject and one has to tread carefully. Strong foundation, Consistent application and interpretation with enough freedom for the states should be the hallmark of such a policy. I feel, however, that the "Students" as stakeholders of any such policy and their parents should play an active role too in coming up with useful suggestions.
Whilst there are a lot of aspects that can be covered under the heading "Education system", I, as a parent of 2 boys with the younger one just about to enter university, have chosen to focus on the H.Sc (Higher Secondary) education and the admission system for Undergraduate courses in our country. I don't claim to be an expert. I have made these suggestions as a parent. Some of these changes are bold and might make you unpopular. Believe me, you would become the hero of the entire student community if you can ease and streamline the admission process.
Thank you for taking time to read this
Regards
Swami Nagarajan
A concerned parent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents
1 On our Class XI/XII system
1.1 Perceived issues / problems
1.2 Possible Solutions
2 On our UG admission system
2.1 Perceived issues / problems
2.2 Possible Solutions
3 Conclusion
1
On
our Class XI/XII system
Ours is a heterogeneous
country in terms of landscape, language, customs and habits. This diversity is
our strength. Our education system comprising state and central boards are a
reflection of this. Moreover education is a centre-state subject and is rightly
so.
1.1
Perceived
issues / problems
1.1.1
Choice of subjects in grades 11 and
12
Most schools in our country offer only fixed
combinations of subjects for grades 11 and 12. Each subject combination has
been set up with a specific career in mind. In this curriculum, which is common
across most schools in India, an aspiring engineering student cannot study
economics, language or any other subject of his passion. Students are forced to
decide on their careers and specialisations by the end of grade 10. Whilst this
is not an attempt to negate the influence of super-specialization, my point of
view is that up to bachelor’s level of education, a broader spectrum of
subjects can be allowed depending on the student’s interest.
Every school, affiliated to the CBSE, cannot
offer all the subjects under CBSE. Fair enough. But within what is available in
the school, why can’t a student take any combination as to what he or she
wants. Of course, there could be constraints on the time table and scheduling
of classes based on what the students want to study. But subject to the
availability of teachers and other infrastructure facilities, this need not be
considered a problem. The reluctance of schools is the root cause.
Schools which follow curriculum such as IB,
IGCSE allow students to choose subjects of their interest, within a broad range
of what is prescribed by their board and available in the school. Students here
are benefited immensely. Why shouldn’t students studying in CBSE or the state
boards be benefited similarly?
1.1.2
Adequacy
of state board syllabus
When I read the comments on the NEET related
points in Tamil Nadu, one argument, put forward by the politicians, is that the
CBSE students have an unfair advantage over the state board. Also, a look at
the rankings / scores shows most of the TN students are not able to cope up. I
don’t know the situation in other states. What does this really mean? Is it an
open admission that the state board syllabus is not adequate or up to the mark? or do the chances of succeeding NEET depend on factors like coaching?
1.1.3
The
standing of one state board vis-à-vis other boards
Does every Indian student of higher secondary
course know how his/her board is viewed or where it stands? We have no idea how
a TN HSC (higher secondary) student is viewed by other states or other
countries. Of course, all the universities in India do not discriminate one board
system from another. Whenever a selection is based on the qualifying marks in
the HSC, there is an implicit assumption that:
a. Every state board, awarding HSC,
compares equally with others
b. Every subject, across the boards,
has the same quality of coverage as well as depth
c. Every HSC exam has the same level of
difficulty
d. Every subject, across the boards,
attempts to impart the same level of learning outcomes.
We all know the above is not true. I was told
that some institutions resort to a normalization procedure to help compare the students, across
different boards, in a uniform manner. First of all, such institutes are few.
Secondly, the normalization addresses only the difficulty level of the exams
and not the learning outcomes.
When I was researching for my son’s UG study
abroad, I was surprised by some of the universities stating which Indian state
boards are acceptable to enter their bachelor degree programs. Does this imply
that these universities have done a formal or informal evaluation (sort of due
diligence) of the state boards and found only a few meet their criteria? I
don’t know. But this kindled my curiosity to see if there is any formal study
done across the state boards offering HSC. None. I don’t know how a HSC student,
who has taken Physics, of TN state board compares to his counterpart from
Andhra state board. But informally when I talk to some of my friends from other
boards, there is some sort of underlying opinion about the difficulty and
coverage levels. These are restricted to small groups and may be based on
personal experience.
The important point is that in the increasing
world of transparency, every Indian student deserves to be informed of the
standing of his board in various subjects vis-à-vis other boards.
1.2
Possible
Solutions
There could
be many solutions to address the above. Below, I suggest what comes to my mind.
An
independent body should be set up by the central government or the scope of
NCERT can be extended subject to adequate resources and budget. This body,
let’s call it QAA (Quality Accreditation Agency) should clearly be tasked with
the following:
1. It should specify the list of
subjects that can be offered by various boards (e.g. Tamil Literature,
Mathematics, English etc.)
2. So long as a school offers, say N
different subjects for HSC, any student of the school should have the option to
choose any combination of 4 subjects within that N. The best way to do is to
keep the teachers/subjects fixed to the room and allow the students to move from
class to class. Today in TN, we call the students taking Maths, Physics,
Chemistry and Biology as Group I. All these distinctions should go. A student
takes 4 or 5 subjects. The school and teachers should not pass comments or
observations on the interests of students.
Many a time, the students and teachers discourage students from taking
the subjects of their choice. Of course, this is subject to constraints on the
time table and capacity of teachers.
3. For each of the subjects, above:
a. an outcome i.e. if a student passes
this subject at HSC level, what is he/she expected to know? In what areas and
by how much will they be proficient? What will they be capable of doing? What
skills will they have accumulated?
b. a broad recommendation of the
possible syllabus
c. a reading list of recommended books
4. For doing this, QAA should look at
the equivalent syllabi of developed countries as well as international boards
like IB (International Baccalaureate) system. This will help our standards to
stay relevant and current.
5. With this ambit, the body should
leave the central and various state boards to actually create syllabus and come
out with their own books or give reference to other books. This will also
enable to add local flavour by the boards where necessary. For example,
consider history. Every student, studying History in any board in India, should
know about Indian and world history. In addition, he/she should study the local
history i.e. history of the region or state.
6. Periodically, say, every 3 or 5
years, this body QAA should examine the syllabus examination patterns and they
type of mark awarded across the boards and publish ratings. The rating can
cover aspects such as breadth of a subject covered, depth of the subject,
learning outcomes, difficulty of examination etc. These ratings should be
shared with the public along with the required data points. For example, from
the ratings, any student can understand how a mathematics student, from TN
board, compares with the objectives / learning outcomes specified by AQA.
Indirectly, this will also enable the students to see where their state board
is as compared to others.
7. This will also put indirect pressure
on the state boards to create adequate and appropriate syllabus and encourage
them to aim harder. Other benefits could accrue in the upgrading of facilities,
enhancing the quality of teachers, equipping them to handle the subjects etc.
8. Australia has adopted a system
called ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank) that applies statistical scaling
techniques and converts each state board marks into a national rank indicating
a percentile score. Perhaps, something similar can be thought of. For this,
data points need to be accumulated after addressing the concerns explained earlier.
2
On
our UG admission system
My second
observation is on the admission system in our country followed by different
institutes – government as well as private and varying admission criteria
followed with lack of clarity.
2.1
Perceived
issues / problems
1. Various nomenclature exists in
awarding degrees. Some call it B.S (Bachelor of Science) whilst others call it
B.Sc. One institute calls an engineering degree in metallurgy as “Metallurgical
engineering”; another “Metallurgy and material science”; still another calls
“Material science and Metallurgy.” Why are they different? Do they result in
different skills, capabilities or learning outcomes? Some call it B.A in
Economics and some others award a Bachelor of Science in Economics. How
different they are?
2. Every institute has its own
selection test. In my view, most of the private / deemed universities have
converted the entrance exam as a source of revenue. A student has to sit for
various exams. On an average, the exam fees is not less than INR 1000. Also consider
the fact that most exams will require an outstation travel. Imagine the
expenses for the family. A family member has to apply for leave and travel with
the student and incurs travel, lodging and other expenses. In order to improve
the chances of selection, on an average every student takes up five or more
exams.
3. Most of the engineering programs
abroad require the students to have studied Maths and Physics. They are the
foundations of engineering. With the exception of chemical engineering, all
other specializations do not require chemistry. Here, the system expects the
students to have studied all three as the basis for JEE test. But then, why
does the economics bachelor program, offered at IIT Kanpur, expect the students
to take the JEE? Just because the
program is offered by the IIT? Is this really correct? Many other economics
programs expect scores in Economics, Commerce, Accountancy and Business
Studies. Why are there so many inconsistencies? One cannot point to the freedom
of the institutes here!
4. Various tests are scheduled during
the summer after the HSC exams with most weekends gone towards travelling to
various locations. The results, for various courses, are not synchronized. The
calendar of admission system varies across the country. This also means every
state is witness to students jumping from one institute to another as the clash
in calendar system doesn’t enable them to take a decision considering all
factors.
5. As an Indian citizen, every student
of HSC should have the right to apply to any university in India on equal
terms. This doesn’t infringe on the right of states to accord priority for its
own students. Let’s say an institute in TN reserves 50% of the seats to
students of TN. The remaining 50% of the seats should not have any
pre-requisites. Currently, only the central universities have an open
procedure. Every state, by various rules, discourages pan-Indian admission. Why
should we deprive a student who is highly qualified to seek admission from an
institute outside his/her state?
6. A student has to type out the same
information across institutes. Most of them are standard data concerning
personal particulars and the marks obtained in exams.
7. There is no clear cut guideline for
every UG course. For example, if one wants to specialize in History as a major
and apply for an undergraduate program, what are the subjects he or she ought
to have studied at HSC? For applying to history, should one have studied
History and/or Maths and/or English? Or will any combination do?
8. In programs requiring high practical
component like engineering, medicine etc. how much time should a student spend
in practice or laboratory or workshop? There is no uniformity nor consistency,
I am afraid.
2.2
Possible
Solutions
1. Like I described earlier, a body
similar to the QAA (mentioned in this paper above) should maintain a catalogue
of programs, ensure consistency of nomenclature (without taking away the
privilege of institutes to offer new programs), specify the length of time for
the degree, define the learning outcomes and suggest broad syllabus/practical
pattern. This doesn’t take away an institute’s freedom to design and offer new
programs. But, they must file with QAA the new program and work to ensure the
learning outcomes are clearly defined. This catalogue should be made
transparent to all the students.
2. This body must also be the central
repository of all institutes in the country along with the list of programs
offered by each, number of seats etc. This is the only database a student needs
before deciding to apply. I know that we have a number of institutions like
UGC, AICTE, and MCI etc. The available information, from these organizations,
can be used.
3. The number of seats, for each
program, could be broken into:
a. Seats under “Local states” quota
(this is to be filled up the students of the state in which the institute is
located)
b. Seats under “Outside states”
(Pan-India)
c. Seats for international students (if
applicable)
In other words, every student wants to have a
clear idea of the seats available before applying.
4. The body should also specify the
mandatory subjects to be studied at HSC level for each of the bachelor’s program.
A list can be something like this: (This is an example).
Degree
Name
|
Major or
Specialization
|
Core
subjects expected to be studied at HSC
|
Optional
/ recommended subjects at HSC
|
Bachelor
of Science in Engineering
|
Mechanical
Engineering
|
Maths,
Physics
|
Chemistry,
Biology, Statistics, Computer Science
|
Bachelor
of Science in Engineering
|
Chemical
Engineering
|
Maths, Physics,
Chemistry
|
Biology,
Statistics, Computer Science
|
Bachelor
of Commerce
|
-
|
Economics,
Commerce
|
Maths,
Accountancy, Business Studies, English Literature
|
Bachelor
of Arts
|
Geography
|
Geography,
Any science subject (Physics or Chemistry)
|
Biology, Economics,
Social Science
|
Bachelor
of Arts
|
Philosophy
|
None
|
Any
|
Bachelor
of Arts
|
English
Literature
|
English
Literature
|
Any
|
Bachelor
of Arts
|
History
|
None
|
Any
|
5. Our country has moved forward in
terms of setting up NTA (National Testing Agency). This has relieved boards
like CBSE the onerous task of administering tests leading to straying
from
their core purpose. Its sole aim is to ensure tests are conducted properly and
scores made available on time. Two important suggestions to make this stronger:
a. They can aim to make tests
computerized like the way SAT, GRE are being administered. This means a wider
reach in many cities and towns across the country and easy administration of
the tests. Of course, this also adds a responsibility to ensure adequate
protection measures are adhered to.
b. The calendar can be published one
year in advance giving clear visibility to students. Every test can be offered
more than once. A student who couldn’t attend one can choose another or a
student can choose a convenient date or a student can take both the higher
marks can be considered.
c. There should be consideration on the
maximum distance a student has to travel in order to take the exam. At the
minimum, every district headquarters should provide ample facilities for NTA to
administer exams.
6. This testing body should prepare a
list of all possible tests to be done preferably based on the mandatory
subjects for each program. Instead of conducting one test per bachelor’s
program, the focus should be subjects or general aptitude. My suggestion is to
go for the following:
a. An overall aptitude test addressing language,
math, logic, reasoning etc. This can be used for most bachelor’s programs.
b. One combined test for each
professional course like engineering, law, agriculture, medicine, architecture
etc.
c. A few tests on specific subjects
like Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, English Literature etc.
There are only a finite number of subjects and this can be clearly identified.
If executed
properly, it will indicate to students how many and what tests should be taken
in order to apply for their choices. For example:
|
UG
Specialization
|
NAT
|
JEE
|
NEET
|
CLAT
|
MAT
|
PAT
|
CAT
|
HAT
|
|
Mathematics
|
Y
|
|
|
|
Y
|
|
|
|
|
Physics
|
Y
|
|
|
|
|
Y
|
|
|
|
Chemistry
|
Y
|
|
|
|
|
|
Y
|
|
|
Statistics
|
Y
|
|
|
|
Y
|
|
|
|
|
History
|
Y
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Y
|
|
Philosophy
|
Y
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Geography
|
Y
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Economics
|
Y
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Commerce
|
Y
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All
engineering
|
Y
|
(Only
Math / Physics Sections)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chemical
Engg / Material Science
|
Y
|
Math,
Physics, Chemistry sections
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Biological
engineering
|
Y
|
Maths,
Physics, Chemistry, Biology sections
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legend: NAT
– National Aptitude Test, MAT – Math Aptitude Test, PAT – Physics Aptitude
Test, CAT – Chemistry Aptitude Test, BAT – Biology Aptitude Test, HAT – History
Aptitude Test
7. A broad selection criteria for the
bachelor’s programs in terms of weightage of HSC exam and other tests should be
specified. E.g. the weightage of the HSC results should not be less than 40%;
weightage of subject tests, required for the course, cannot be more than 60%.
This example means, the HSC results can carry from 40% to 75% weightage.
8. Every state or private university is free to set the
weightages within this criteria. But, it cannot do the following:
a. Introduce additional test
b. Introduce separate admission
criteria
c. Ask for the scores of another test
on the same subject not covered by the body i.e. if the testing body proposes a
Maths test, the institute cannot ask for another Maths test organized by a
different national or international body.
9. A common pan-India admission system
for the bachelor’s courses is to be introduced online. This should be under the
purview of these bodies as their information is the sole basis. The key
features should be:
a. A common portal for registering
student’s particulars
b. An option for the students to
specify a fixed number of choices, say 5 of bachelor’s programs in order of
priority
c. Use Aadhaar number as the basis
d. The student doesn’t have to key in
the marks obtained in any of the state or central boards. The marks should be
directly accessible to the body using Aadhaar number.
e. Similarly, all the test results,
administered by the testing body, can be made automatically available to the
institutes based on Aadhaar number.
f.
The
admissions portal will send the student, his/her HSC marks and the required
test scores directly to the institutes chosen by the student. The institutes
need not spend any time in validating this data.
g. All the institutes must make their
final results (Admit or Decline) to the students through the admission body
latest by a specified date.
10. A common pan-Indian calendar can
look like:
Sl.No.
|
Event
|
Closure
date
|
1
|
All
boards must complete HSC examinations
|
15th
Mar
|
2
|
All
boards must make the HSC results available to the students and Admissions
body
|
15th
Apr
|
3
|
Administering
tests by NTA (every test offered two times)
|
Between 1st
Nov and 30th Mar
|
4
|
Test
scores made available (2 weeks after the test date)
|
Between
15th Nov and 15th Apr
|
5
|
Online
bachelor’s program admissions portal opens on
|
1st
Apr
|
6
|
Students
complete their admission form
|
15th
Apr
|
7
|
Admission
body sends the details of students / marks to the concerned institutes by no
later than
|
16th
Apr
|
8
|
Institutes
communicate their decision to the students / admission body by no later than
(the online system is updated with the latest cut-off scores by institutes /
programs)
|
15th
May
|
9
|
Students
firm up their choices no later than
|
31st
May
|
10
|
Institutes
issue formal admission letter to students
|
10th
June
|
11
|
Students
pay up the first semester fees and complete other formalities like hostel
etc.
|
25th
June
|
12
|
1st
semester program, across India for all bachelor’s degrees, starts on
|
1st
July
|
11. The above calendar is just an
example. This can be modified to take care of other situations. Consider a
student who has not got any of his/her five choices. An institute, which
rejected the students, may not have fulfilled its capacity and may be willing
to relook at the candidate again. Or the candidate might want to try in another
institute. Suitable changes can be made to accommodate more rounds of admission
within the time frame.
3
Conclusion
In summary,
I propose that we introduce three bodies:
1. A governing council that takes care
of the quality HSC and coverage of Bachelor’s programs. This is responsible for
introducing all subjects at HSC, new programs at bachelor’s level. This is the
only body that has the repository and maintains the definition up to date. This
is also responsible for rating every HSC board in the country with respect to
learning outcomes. Regarding bachelors, such rating will be a humongous task
and need not be considered so long as the learning outcomes are defined.
2. Expand the scope of NTA as the only
testing body for all admission in India for any of the bachelor’s program in
the country.
3. A well-co-ordinated UG admission body
across the country
Benefits:
For
|
Benefits
|
Country
|
· A clear system of education comprising a catalogue of institutes and
programs, clear definition of learning outcomes, consistent nomenclature.
· Self-comparison against other countries to address areas of
improvement and make Indian HSC/bachelor’s world class
· Commitment to the students (the most important stakeholders) on the
availability, transparency and validity of the data / admission process
|
Institutes
|
· Consistent admission criteria
· Synchronized calendar and timelines when exam results would be made available
· Unified admission system giving institutes a clear idea on the number
of students joining their programs. This will help them to plan their courses
in advance
· As the institutes’ data will be made online, this will put pressure on
the institutes to elevate their capability
· No time wasted in verifying the marks / credentials of the students as
they are received directly from the government bodies
|
Student
|
· Clear guideline to the students regarding what subjects to study at
HSC level and what tests are required for admission to an institute
· Has the option to take the subject tests more than once and choose the
higher marks. The scheduling can be done conveniently.
· Reduced expenses as tests are fewer
· Reduced stress levels
· Validated data of the institutes
· One stop admission centre. Doesn’t have to worry about sending
applications to many institutes
· Simplified admission system
· Automatic availability of HSC Board rests and subject test scores to
institutes.
|
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