Middle class youngsters in urban India in the formative years are often forcibly distracted and swayed away from their inherent interest, aptitude and talent just to cross the “entry barriers” which are found in the way to anything and everything that is considered “enviable” by the society.
- It happens only I India …. Nowhere in the world does one hear of formidable “Competitive Exams” like IIT-JEE, Civil Services and such like where aspirants spend years of effort only to prepare for those, through specific exam orientation based “Coaching Centres” at a considerable cost.
- The fall out of above is easy to see … aspirants are interested to the core just to get a good rank in competition at any cost …and in the process they never develop / discover / further any other interests … which would perhaps have been more relevant for their predisposition.
- Heavily lopsided and disproportionate prospects and recognition restricted to very few stereotyped career avenues through specific “brands” is the prime reason why everybody should want to become an IAS officer or IIT Grad or IIM stamp holder …. This is something that should have been deliberately balanced out by the leadership… since it is an issue of social mind set and dynamics.
- The very idea of “percentile system” is to promote the notion of “How many competitors can you leave behind?”…. It promotes a “selfish” performance focus and eventually it does affect camaraderie and teamwork which is more required for organizational performance in real life.
Entry Barriers to reject most aspirants ….
Perhaps the only purpose the criteria of “merit” in the entry barriers serve, is to only make the process look undisputable, fair and just. The way these competitive exams are designed … the objective is clearly to be able to easily “reject” most aspirants conclusively.
- Whatever aptitude / general knowledge / skill of solving 250 tricky questions in 180 minutes is getting tested … where does it get used after the entry barrier?
- People who have already crossed the entry barrier … can they clear the same exam after few years down the line without preparation?
- If the pattern of exam remains the same for years … Coaching Centres to prepare and condition minds would mushroom and the result goes farther away from evaluation of intrinsic interest and aptitude.
Relevance of Merit being tested ….
- Verbal, Quant, GK and IQ are often the main pillars of “merit” being evaluated without any linkage to the actual requirements in the way ahead after the entry barrier.
- If someone wants to do design in Industrial Hydraulics why does he / she have to mug up a dictionary?
- Implicit assumption is …. If someone could mug up a whole dictionary just to clear a competition … chances are the aspirant is determined enough to do just about anything that may be required thereafter.
So what is the way out?
- If there is more equitable earning potential and social recognition irrespective of career path; probably youngsters will pursue what suits them better naturally.
- More awareness of what different career options require in the formative years rather than buiding up scare of competition.
- Remove “artificially” erected entry barriers and test aptitudes which are specific rather than generic.
- Testing should focus on creativity, collaboration and clarity of concepts rather than pattern based “difficult” question paper and interview.
AVINASH KHARE