Brown Penny

IITs: We want a separate exam ! June 16, 2012

The big question doing rounds these days is, should IITs be allowed to hold a separate engineering entrance exam as opposed to the Union Government’s decision to conduct a common engineering entrance exam for all institutions?
When even the internal bodies have conflicting opinions on this, as among the IITs, IIT Kanpur and Delhi oppose the decision, while the remaining five claim to be on board with the Government, then the masses surely have a lot to say, with widely differing views, of course.

With regards to the curiosity and taking into account my engineering background, I conducted a small survey (mostly among the people whom I know) to get an idea of what people (of different ages and different backgrounds) think. As I had thought, and as it is with our country, people who are not really related with the field or an issue that does not concern them, usually are insouciant towards it, and hence don’t have a say for it. And so was the case, where people who couldn’t get enough of their everyday problems, found it cumbersome to get involved in ‘other’ matters, (‘Other’ matters? The country’s matters!) and just came up with ‘I really don’t care, since I have no linkage with engineering at all.’ Well okay, then even I don’t have a say in XXXXs (just to remain discreet) are a minority group and should be made eligible for the minority quota (actually I do, but anyway).
But, I did find quite a few sentient people, who did have a say and didn’t hesitate to express their opinion on it. Of course, a former IITian, he had to say that ‘IIT is the most prestigious engineering institution in our country, which has its reputation not only here, but also throughout the world, hence what they can incorporate is only the cream and that to sifted cream, because it’s the world reputation that they hold.’ Another man, whose son tried into the IIT, but couldn’t get through, expressed, ‘IITs seem like a separate body of institution, they seem out of reach to most of the students, but they do have other exams for which they feel capable of, which again boosts confidence in them. Making the engineering entrance exam as a common one, not only creates extra pressure on the child, since it would be an all-institution exam (including the IITs), which is enough to scare them off, moreover what if the child isn’t able to do well in that single exam, are there any other exams which he can look forward to? No! Hence, his year gone.’

Good points, we have here, but there were many who supported the inclusion as well. For instance, according to my teacher, she feels, ‘No doubt IITs are the esteemed institutions, but who is taking that tag away from them? They will still remain the same. The smarter lot will anyhow get admission in them based on their performance in the test, which obviously will be outstanding even if IITs have a separate exam or a common one.’ Acceding to this opinion, my mother, too, feels that a common entrance exam will only help to reduce the pressure on the child, and not endanger the quality of the students it intakes. Although, my father is in the favor of having a common exam as well, but he made a good point, ‘What if due to some unforeseen circumstances, the child isn’t able to show up on the exam date, then what? No more exams. The single exam gone and the child has to wait for one whole year.’ Well, I agree to that point.

Finally, coming to my opinion, I think what I have gathered here are sporadic pieces of opinions, which can be combined together. Personally, I agree with the Government in having a common engineering entrance exam, but only to a certain extent. What I believe is that if in most of the countries in the world, SAT is the exam required for undergraduate study, and GRE/GMAT for graduate, then why can’t it happen in our country? For instance, Stanford, Harvard, Cambridge, all are the dream institutions of most of the students, aspiring to study abroad, all of them have these common exams, based on which they decide the merit of the applying student (there are other criteria too, on the basis of which decisions are made, but let’s not go into them, for now). There are no Stanford entrance exam or Harvard entrance exam, so why in our country? Can’t our education system be so flexible as well? Moreover, just having a common exam is not enough, what more is required is what is asked in the exam. I think, apart from the concrete subject knowledge testing, the student’s logical thinking must also be tested, and of course, English too! This will not only improve the student as a whole, but also help in preparing the child for a more worldly environment, which is usually required in these prestigious institutions (IITs, to be specific). Lastly, I also think that just like the rest of the ‘worldly’ exams, this common exam should also be held on regular basis throughout the year, and there should not be just a single ‘do-or-die’ day for the exam. This will not only help the student to get acquainted with the exam in the first go, and increase his possibility of doing fairly in the second go (without wasting a year), but also this increased strike rate in the exam will help in increasing the standard of education of our country even more.

But, everything can’t be as simple as it may seem, they certainly do encounter some problem or the other, and similar might be the case here also. So, I am not the central body, the Government is, hence they have to decide. I can just express my opinion, and that’s all I had to say.