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These
entrance examinations did succeed in making the students more
competitive and knowledgeable. But it has also damaged the
Intermediate education. In reality very few students attend
the regular Intermediate colleges. They just enroll formally
and spend all their time at the coaching institutes where
they are taught to learn by rote with little emphasis on analytical
and application skills.
As
I see it, the fundamental problem lies in our system of examinations.
They only tend to test the student for their ability to memorize
and are very uncreative in their approach. The tests at present
assesses the information base of the candidates and not necessarily
their ability. As text books are prescribed for the syllabus
given, the scope of the examination is limited to the matter
given in a particular text book. The richness in content,
application and treatment of subject is missing. Knowledge
in scientific disciplines is thus sought to be severely restricted
at the cost of innovation, depth and broad conceptual clarity.
The
government is contemplating giving some weightage to the Intermediate
examination in EAMCET, the entrance examination for professional
courses. The principle of giving Intermediate due recognition
is a valid one, as it is the foundation for both professional
courses and university education. Undoubtedly we must create
an environment to make students take Intermediate study seriously.
But the remedy should not be worse than the disease.
The
EAMCET examination is somewhat flawed, but a common competitive
examination to select students for admission into professional
courses is still the best and most practical method under
the current circumstances. Any effort to give weightage to
Intermediate examination in admission into professional courses
will do incalculable harm, and is impractical under the present
circumstances, for the following reasons:
a. Such weightage to Intermediate will drive all the students
to private tutorial colleges in the hope that such special
coaching will give them better scores in Intermediate. The
need of the hour is to improve quality of Intermediate education
in regular colleges, and not to undermine them further.
b. The record of conduct of Intermediate examination is not
edifying. Bad question paper setting, leakage of question
papers, rampant mass copying, serious deficiencies in evaluation,
and corrupt practices in practical examinations are all-too-common
at present. Until these serious distortions are systematically
addressed, and a level of confidence is restored in Intermediate
examinations, such weightage will merely lead to more corrupt
practices.
c. It is possible to score 100% marks in Intermediate without
even a modicum of knowledge on some major branches of science
or mathematics, because of the faulty nature of the question
papers and the excessive choice offered.
Many
students from CBSE and ICSE streams also seek admission into
professional courses. A common competitive admission test
is the only fair means of selecting them. The first goal should
be improving the quality of Intermediate education and its
evaluation methods before we can think of giving weightage
to Intermediate examination for admission into professional
courses. Once the nature of examinations in both Intermediate
and EAMCET are changed to test the students ability to think
and apply knowledge to solving problems, over a period of
time, the market forces will ensure that the type of training/instruction
the students receive will be in tune with the new demand.
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