At one time the results of the examination boards of any given area was good enough for admission in any college (or university). Now the results of examination boards results are no longer considered a worthwhile qualification on the basis of which one can get an admission in a college - now college has started having entrance exams. Only if the candidates can clear the entrance exams will be they are admitted in a college.
It is obvious that board examinations are no longer trusted by colleges – one of the reasons is that for every given area – the standard of education varies. It can be very poor in some parts and very high in others, the concept of a uniform standard does not exist. So if a student clears an exam of particular class from a specific examination board, it will not be the same as a student qualifying from the same class from another examination board.
The owners of colleges are well aware of the rampant corruption, which exists in examination boards and their affiliated organisation the textbook boards. Examination boards are large bureaucratic set-ups. The bureaucrats there take heavy bribes to give better than passing grades to any student whose parents are willing to pay the bribes. The textbook boards order specific textbooks to be part of the curriculum these are the basis of making them a part of the curriculum is not because there is any special about them. Some person has bribed the officials of the textbook board to accept the textbook he has supposedly ‘written’ and ‘illustrated’. The task of the education board is to give jobs to people who want to become teachers. These people become teachers by paying a specific sum to an existing senior official of the education board. These teachers just receive a monthly salary – but they are not expected to do any work.
In such an environment, it makes sense to have entrance exams in colleges. For all practical purposes examination boards, textbook boards and education board should be wound up. All schools should have their own curricula and their own system of education. Presently schools are unable to improve their standards, as they have to conform to a system set up under bureaucratic and military supervision, which is not working at all.
Those who set up schools do so for money - hence it is like any other business. I would put it in the service industry category. It claims to provide a service but the result of that service is that 98% of the students fail. Once it is established that all schools and colleges are essentially are a service industry - parents have every right to demand a return on the money they have doled out. The excuse that 'individual attention' cannot be given to each student is rubbish. Parents are paying for their child and in return for that payment their child deserves to receive all the attention. Parents are paying for their child's participation in sports - but only a few students are selected others are neglected - this outright fraud. If a student does not do well in school it is entirely the fault of the school (and college) it did not put in the required effort on the student. School admission and tuition fees should be paid after the end of the school year never in advance that is the only way to assure that schools will be put in the required effort on every student.
Another issue is that of textbooks. Knowledge is very open ended, there are too many questions too much find out. There is no room in textbooks to expand on what is being provided in form of knowledge. None of them are user friendly. Most of them are very badly written and never explain anything in detail. There should be no textbooks, no notes. Why should students do everything, it is the job of the teachers (and professors) to do that. Why are students required to do anything except learn? Learning does not come from exams, tests, writing notes, doing homework or class-work it comes from the efforts of the teachers.
The present system of education is absolutely corrupt and there does not seem to be any way out of it.
Comments