By Ashok Kumar
The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) was promulgated recently to bring uniformity in judging the admission seeking students on a standard parameter for almost all admissions in Central Universities be it Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Integrated Diploma and all other courses/certifications. This is probably intended to not only eliminate the administrative difficulties of universities conducting separate examinations but also following the equitable standards for all admission seekers. In absence of a common syllabus till standard 12th pan India and multiple boards to conduct examinations, the need of such additional examination appears logical but it addresses the issue in a peripheral manner. Core issue remains to be addressed which involves adopting common and a well crafted course content upto 12th standard to begin with while CBSE can be a single board to conduct the examinations pan India with all other testing boards be at central or state level being done away with. The moment these two reforms are undertaken, CUET will be irrelevant.
While the proposal being argued for may seem simplistic but there are huge implementational challenges. It is good that education is currently in the ‘concurrent list’ since 1976 when the 42nd amendment to the constitution was approved. Both Central and State Governments can frame laws related to the subjects in the concurrent list and in case of conflict, the rules/laws of the Central Government prevails. Such a constitutional provision is empowering enough for the Central Government to bring in this major transformation. A consensus should be attempted to be reached between all the stakeholders lest it is branded as the Central Government usurping the power of the State Governments and an issue is raised in the political circles about the fabric of federal structure of the country being under stress. These two reforms are the most important reforms in the education sector though some efforts in this direction have not fully succeeded.
The Right to Education Act brought in multiple welcome changes but is relatively limited in its scope. It also has certain exceptions which need to be looked at afresh. The exceptions would have been needed then but their current need is required to be reviewed.. Each segment of our population is required to be equally enabled.
NEED OF COMMON SYLLABUS
The country is celebrating 75th year of Independence as Amrit Mahotsav. There have been varying degrees of standards in educational exposure wherein urban class has gained the distinct advantages while rural masses specially the persons from distant hilly areas and tribals have not had adequate access to basic education leave aside quality education. Children of migrant labourers are also suffering on this count.
In the year of Amrit Mahotsav, the Government must take pledge that the benefit of Amrit viz Nectar must reach all in equal measure. To do this, it is important that the concept of each class and in that each subject having the same syllabus must be accepted. With recent promulgation of National Education Policy (NEP), there is, in any case, a need to revise the syllabus in most of the cases and to avoid duplication of the major effort , the opportunity should be utilised to ensure that the standard syllabus is evolved and promulgated. An expert professional apolitical group should be constituted to evolve the syllabus. The syllabus so evolved must meet the futuristic aspirations of the nation and must factor skill development facts as well. Smaller state level groups could be formed to decide the syllabus of their language and those facets of social science which are state specific. Common syllabus should be adopted in minority run institutions as well with a separate subject on religious empowerment which could be kept in the category of not being tested. Some expert groups have been formulated for implementation of NEP 2020, it is desirable that these issues are addressed. As against some people attempting a court based approach, an inclusive approach will be a better model in our pluralistic society.
The common syllabus, especially the one which is aligned to our futuristic needs, will have certain learning challenges for those students who are not learning through formal schooling and are not regular students. Besides being a learning challenge itself, it will have different grades of such challenges and will require innovative and pragmatic solutions by the expert course designing team. The challenge if factored appropriately will diminish the learning divide and will unleash a talent which will not only meet the requirements of the nation but that of some other countries and will be a model to emulate.
NEED OF COMMON TESTING BOARD
There are various testing boards at the Central as well as each State Government Level. Classes in which board exams are to be conducted are also varying. With the new education policy, hopefully some of these issues will get addressed. A single testing agency whether the responsibility is given to CBSE or any other agencies are suitably named and restructured will pave the way for standardised examination for which common syllabus is pre-requisite and a mandatory requirement.
Once this approach is adopted, there will be no need to have CUET and marks obtained through this testing agency can be the basis for all admissions be at Central or State level. Even as on date, CBSE has its affiliated schools/colleges pan India and exams are being conducted all over. It will therefore be easier to handle security and logistical challenges for such exams. The State level boards can be designated as CBSE (West Bengal … Name of concerned state) or a regional branch as it is a matter of semantics. What is most important is that a single board/testing agency should be authorised to conduct exams.
To ensure that the testing agency is not overburdened with multiple tasks , issues of affiliation/suitability can be left to various State Governments in whose jurisdiction such schools/colleges are present. On the similar lines, NCERT should assume responsibility of taking out books once the syllabus is standardized . It is only the NCERT books which should be allowed to be used in schools/colleges. The current trend of commercial approach of having different books for different schools/colleges must be done away with. To ensure that adequate inputs are available, NCERT has to do justice while content finalisation is being done.
The idea of standardized and common syllabus along with a single testing model is probably the best for the country though there are realistic challenges as well for its adoption, unwillingness of various stakeholders being one of the very many challenges. The process should not be delayed any further now that the country is in its 75th year of Independence as quality education is the most important contributing factor towards nation building.
Once these proposed changes are implemented and standardisation is achieved, there will be a requirement of changing the syllabus of various competitive examinations as well, both at Central & State Government levels. Besides making CUET and multiplicity of examinations redundant, all jobs in Group C and Group D can be filled based on marks of this standardised examination both at Central and State levels. With requirement of interview being done away with, it will be possible to complete the recruitment in the most efficient manner for Group c and Group D level employees specially for the ones who have educational qualifications till 12th standard. In case of certain categories, the current system may still be needed unless we are able to bring standardisation in universities as well, which should be the next step.
What emerges without any doubt is that adoption of a common syllabus and single testing board pan India should not be delayed any further and be a concurrent implementation decision along with the NEP 2020 for the larger good of the nation.
(Author is a Major General retired. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of Financial Express Online. Reproducing this content without permission is prohibited.)
