India has exam system, not education system: CN Rao

The head of Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, C.N. Rao has written a letter to the Prime Minister drawing his attention towards the faulty education system in the country. In the letter, Rao has touted various multiple entrance exams as a menace and asked for a single common entrance test to replace it. Rao has recommended the American method of holding one national exam before joining any university Putting it bluntly, Rao told the PM that India is said to "have an examination system but not an education system... When will young people stop taking exams and do something worthwhile?" Referring to the exam overdrive, Rao informed Manmohan Singh about various levels of entrances, "It is important to relook the entire examination system including the system of final examinations, entrance examinations, qualifying examinations, selection examinations, and so on. Now one hears of a proposal to have a qualifying or accreditation examination for medical graduates and post-graduates." Rao has cited the example of pressure of entrances like Joint Entrance Examination conducted by IIT, he said, "IIT entrance exams have the reputation of being difficult and purposeful, but they have also had a negative effect on young minds. Young people suffer so much to succeed in these entrance exams, and in the process lose excitement in education itself." The lakhs who don't make it across the IIT gates, Rao told the PM, get exhausted and can't perform as well as young people with fresh minds. Scientific Advisory Council has prepared a 10-point checklist of key problems and challenges. It has asked the human resources development ministry to set up a taskforce to come up with an action-oriented document within a year. "We should seriously consider a possible scenario wherein the young India advantage enables India to emerge as the provider of trained manpower for the entire world in the next 20-30 years. This could be a worthwhile national objective," he told the PM. Rao has asked government to provide upport to 10 educational institutions to enable them to compete with the best in advanced countries.There's a manpower mismatch in many countries with too many professionals in some subjects. Prepare a vision document which foresees the problems 20 years. Increase the number of fully residential schools up to higher secondary level in rural India to nurture rural talent.

[Source: Times of India]