Is the CUCET Going to "Reform" Entrance Exams in India?

I come from a generation of Indians who were indoctrinated to aspire, to harbour dreams, to chase ambitions, and to pursue a relentless journey towards excellence… as long as it reflected well on our scorecard.

Make no mistake, there is nothing wrong with fetching glorious scores. But one need not be so fetching as if one's life depended on it. Which, sadly, more often than not, it does.

The road to academic success in India is defined by decimals which follow after the 99 percent in your Board exam scorecard. Until recently, it was the threshold of qualification if you wished to be admitted into the most prestigious universities in the country.

But let's not pass off the 99.(xx) as a wash. Want to get into a History program in Lady Shri Ram, maybe a 98.(xx) will suffice. For a History honours in Miranda House, 97.(xx) could be good enough. Or, even better, if you want to get into English in Hindu.

But if you are mistaken enough to have cultivated a passion for the industry-hungry subjects like Economics in high school and sophomore years, then you better go fetching in the 99.(xx) club. And even then, be sensible enough not to fret if you miss the cut by a decimal or two because your ambition can stretch so far as the entrance of St. Stephen's but not into its annals.

Inability to test well is a universal handicap for students who mean well but don't reflect well. Of course, not everyone can master having a photographic memory like Mike Ross from Suits, but doesn't everyone deserve a do-over at some point in their lives, as Mike Ross did?

Deservedly so, the Government understands. All undergraduate admissions to non-technical programs at centrally funded universities will now be conducted on the basis of (not just) the students' Board scores but also on the basis of a high-quality aptitude test (CUCET — Central Universities Common Entrance Test).

What does this mean?

It means now it's 99.(xx) plus "guest"(test) that features on your invite into the Delhi University.

How will it be different?

For starters, it will heap an additional burden and stress on students who are already facing uncertainty and disruption from the postponed and cancelled exams, no thanks to the pandemic.

Second, the CUCET was originally set to be introduced last year after the admission process for universities had already begun. But because the University Grants Commission (UGC) knew better than to plan a wise timeline for implementation, the proposed framework was delayed until 2022.

So, now, this will be the first year when the test is conducted even if an argument can be made that the current timeline is still not sufficient to formulate a policy revision of this scale. There are so many questions here, some of which have been answered (however haphazardly) by officials and the rest are unknown.

What questions?

For instance, what's going to be the syllabus? There are 45+ central universities in the country. They are all instructed to adhere to the UGC-standardised curriculum for Class 12th or temper to certain versions of it. But "standard" does not mean "uniform". Any slightest textual deviation across the courses could create problems in the formation of questionnaire and evaluation patterns for the test.

Also, aspirants for non-technical courses usually tend to focus singularly on the Board curriculum. Many of them also subscribe to extra coaching and tutoring to prepare well for this "one-exam-above-all" that had, for decades, been the academic yardstick to gauge performance in India.

Now, students will be required to prepare for two tests simultaneously. Talk about a palaver!

What about de-risking the weight of Board scores?

That's a good point. A 70–75% weightage on Board results is certain to take some of the pressure off of its dreaded evaluation. In fact, the UGC's primary strategy in marketing this new format has been to show how it has been done to ensure fairness in the "cut-off race".

But one may wonder as to whether reliving the cut-off index from one exam and transferring it to another does any good to anyone apart from add to the evaluators' woes. The evaluators being teachers, educators and academicians, who are one of the most underpaid and under-acknowledged sections of our society.

Also, think about the differentials in resources that will come at play here. Students from privileged background who can afford upscale tutoring will have the natural advantage in this still-existing race. And what's worse, is that the advantage will scale by 2x now considering there are two different exams.

Too many tests spoil the scores

Alright, let's look at this objectively. If the goal here is to cut out the so-called cut-off race, then shouldn't one try and cut it off at the knees altogether?

We are a country of billion who may continue to bathe in our unity-in-diversity paradigm glory but are so disjointed in focus when it comes to designing ONE SINGLE TEST for our would-be citizens. There's the NEET, the JEE and a platoon of similarly-designed discipline-focused entrance tests that a student HAS to undergo after his/her school-leaving exam.

Wouldn't a better solution be to eliminate ALL and devise one test modelled somewhat along the lines of the SAT in the US which would confer one formatted score and one academic standing to one student regardless of where they are stationed in the country and what subject they wish to pursue?

Think about it this way. After the UPSC announces the All India Ranks of test takers, they opt for their desired roles and positions within the administrative services (IAS, IFS, IPS, IRS, etc.) on a first-rank-first-serve basis. Wouldn't it be conceivable to follow a similar pattern when it comes to students selecting undergraduate courses (both technical AND non-technical) in central universities? Kill all tests with one score?!

Judging by the policy that we witness at the moment, ideation of another metric taking lift is probably going to take more than another few years (possibly decades). Here's hoping the CUCET sets out to achieve what it was intended for and one isn't left to witness its debacle for another intricate policy revision to take effect.