3 unpleasant paper leak news
Lakhs of students across India were shattered by three successive unpleasant news – first came news of the leak of the NEET Examination, then the leak of UGC NET, and lastly the CSIR-UGC NET. The stink of corruption was apparent, but there were suspicions that it was a well-designed strategy to disrupt and embarrass Modi 3.0. Investigations are underway, and the nation will get to know the truth about these well-sequenced leaks.
This is not the first time that question paper leaks are happening nor will it be the last. In a nation where several lakhs of students appear for various competitive examinations, the lot is at stake for brokers, touts, and middlemen. But imagine the plight of lakhs of students, the physical and mental stress endured by them, their parents and teachers, precious time and money wasted. Most ironically, the NEET scam itself is a big conspiracy in which the players are rich students, parents, teachers, college management, coaching centers, and courier companies. Just a small leakage in Bihar or Jharkhand can cripple and derail the entire examination system across the nation, because of the advanced IT/ Communication technology, which criminals are utilizing with efficiency and speed.
Political interference
Many medical colleges and engineering colleges in the country are being run by Trusts founded by politicians, and their Benamis. These Trusts were enjoying an annual bonanza of whopping capitation fees, in liquid cash and were centers of Hawala transactions. No Income Tax Department or Enforcement Directorate would dare to go near them. The constant refrain from states like Tamil Nadu, Bengal, and Karnataka, to abolish NEET, is because of the phenomenal loss of capitation fees, for the politicians, who had made artificial shortages into a monetary advantage. The present engineered leaks of question papers are an attempt to discredit the NEET examination and revert back to the pernicious capitation fee system. There is absolutely zero concern that the public health system is being undermined by mediocre students and rampant commercialization. The capitation fee system has created many doctor-families, who run their private hospitals, by looting patients, indiscriminately.
We have to accept the unpleasant fact that education in India is a prolonged ordeal for students and their parents. From nursery to Ph.D., it is an obstacle race, at every stage, set up by money-minded institutions, cunning management, coaching centers, and examiners. Innumerable brokers and fixers, complicate the scenario. The students get reprieve only, as and when they get a job, get married, go abroad, or simply decide to discontinue their further studies.
Greedy managements
Consider the educational career of a typical Indian child. To get admission to a good nursery school, the parents need to be influential or have the capacity to bribe the school management, which happens nowhere else in the world. The nursery admission crisis is the first of a series of battles that every child is subjected to. Many of these institutions, though famous are without appropriate facilities; lack academic competition or challenges; lack of motivation for learners and teachers who are lazy, because they are paid poorly. In addition to these woes, the interference from politicians, wanting to inflict their classical status, and regional language, on the tiny tots, is unabated. While rich parents can send their wards to exclusive schools or even to Western countries, the ordinary citizen who wants a bright future for their children is at the mercy of language chauvinists, unconcerned bureaucrats, and adamant politicians. On top of this, taking advantage of the shortage of intake seats, greedy managements, constantly keep pressurizing for fresh donations and a variety of fees ranging from activity fees, resource fees, technology fees, building development fees, and other miscellaneous expenses every term, which can pile on several thousands of rupees onto the exorbitant tuition fee.
The odyssey continues till the stage of +12, the burden of studies, fees, and extra coaching fees, all take a very heavy burden on the family’s finances and domestic happiness. Quite a number of students secretly seek refuge in alcohol, drugs, and sex to escape the tension from family and teachers to improve scores, sustain them, and come out with flying colours to pursue dreams of a professional educational career.
New nightmare factor
Beyond +12, a new nightmare factor emerges, that is going to have a heavy bearing on their future lives – Caste or denomination. While every religion has its own unique pattern of stratification, only Hindus are burdened with intriguing questions of “forward” and “backward”, reservations, mark restrictions, age restrictions, domicile restrictions, and restrictions based on religion. The student faces the harsh reality that merit is of no consequence, even a duffer can outpace a brilliant student! As if these woes were not sufficient, there are a variety of examinations like NEET, UGC NET, and CSIR UGC NET, which will determine if the student can enter a government institution having ‘low fees’ or a private institution that fleeces an exorbitant amount, for the same syllabus. The rush for government seats is therefore exploited by scamsters, engineering exam paper leaks for a hefty price, arranging for mass copying, and making room for valuation discrepancies.
The craze to become a medical doctor or an engineer is so deep-rooted in the minds of parents, that the youngsters have to slog it out to fulfill their parental dreams and desires.
Another evil element that emerges, is the instilling in the minds of the male youngsters, the exorbitant dowry that can be demanded and fetched in the matrimony market if they become a medical doctor or engineer. The constant mounting parental pressure makes students hunt for a medical degree in faraway geographical locations like China, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Poland, Ukraine, and so on. Organized educational consultant- predators from lands like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and European countries, assure them admissions without any NEET exam to wade through, money is the only requirement. Neither the Indian government, nor the foreign government has any idea about the quality of medical education, the infrastructure that these institutions have, nor the qualifications of the teaching staff.
The internal affairs in India’s medical and engineering institutions are also not very rosy. Ayurveda teachers are teaching allopathy students in many institutions, many so-called doctors coming from Ukraine, China, and Russia are clandestinely employed for a mere pittance, and their names do not figure on the rolls. Internal assessments are a big scam with many teaching staff demanding sexual favours from girls in exchange for marks. This writer was once an enquiry officer in an incident in which the Ph.D. guide was an Associate Professor. He had demanded sexual favours from a female candidate who had registered under him. A Professor who learned about this told this writer that it was very common, and many teaching staff would propose to their students to accompany them on pleasure trips to Goa and Mysore, and therefore there was no need to make a big issue out of this incident.
The problem facing the country, as far as medical and engineering studies are concerned is the demand-supply gap. Instead of NEET, which leaves many disillusioned students as well as unfortunate students labelled as “Forward caste”, this writer proposes two classifications based on marks, Merit Category for those having a 75-100 range and Upliftment Category for those scoring 35-75. The existing medical colleges should function on a regular two-shift basis, maybe 8 AM to 13.00 hours and the next batch from 14.00 hours to 19.00 hours. This way the Government can acknowledge the meritorious and also give a helping hand to those seeking to climb up the social ladder. This will also make quota juggling by puerile politicians redundant. There would be separate teaching staff for each batch, thereby giving more employment opportunities, and putting an end to students going to distant countries to acquire degrees of zero value. Further, all the statutory posts in universities, namely, Vice Chancellor, Registrar, Finance Officer, and Controller of Examinations, selections, appointments, postings, and transfers should be by the government only. This will bring more accountability and discipline to the system.
It is high time the government thinks about optimizing the infrastructural facilities, in order to accommodate the aspirations of all students, whether belonging to the incorrectly labelled forward or backward. It is not just about fixing the system but also outsmarting the fixers and their patrons.
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
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