Reports of the Union government planning to draft the services of the armed forces for the smooth and regular conduct of the examinations point to the collapse of the system
Narendra Modi could be the first Prime Minister after Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who engaged with the children so much. He interacts with students in the examination season and has even launched a series ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ where he would share his experiences with students about studying and offer some tips to score better marks. The care he shows, however, is not translated into actions by his government, and has forced him, as per reports, to take a look at the series of lapses on the part of government agencies while conducting examinations. Reports of the Union government planning to draft the services of the armed forces for the smooth and regular conduct of the examinations point to the collapse of the system.
Indian bureaucracy is an elaborate institution that can take care of every function and exigency; it only requires a policy direction and supervision by the political executive. The series of failures in the conduct of three important examinations — the leakage of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) question papers for admission to undergraduate medical courses, the botched valuation of the answer papers of the Class XII students of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the technical glitch that hampered the all-important Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for admission into undergraduate programmes in all Central universities and the participating institutions — points to a systemic failure as much as it reflects a sense of lethargy and callousness on the part of the men and women who are responsible for conducting them. The investigations now point to the involvement of NTA personnel in the leakage of NEET question papers; it signals the depth of the rot.
The man in charge of the job, education minister Dharmedra Pradhan, appears to be more interested in politicising education by thrusting the saffron agenda than overseeing the functioning of agencies such as the National Testing Agency and the CBSE. Even BJP leaders found the idea of introducing a third language for the Class IX students of the CBSE stream unacceptable. He has shown little respect for cooperative federalism when he stopped Central assistance to the states for one programme as they did not agree to implement another. Ministers may follow political ideologies of their choice but attempts to thrust them on others are unacceptable. It is more so when they compromise on the primary job entrusted to them.
Students of Class XII this year have got a taste of an ill-functioning state, which can have a serious impact on the way they conceive democratic governance in our country. They would rather feel the absence of a system. If India as a country is waiting to harvest the demographic dividend, then it must now work to restore the confidence of the youth in the system. Indian Air Force aircraft flying question papers is not the best way to do so; making people responsible, including the minister, answerable is. It is time the Prime Minister took a holistic view of what is happening in the education system and comes up with solutions that can convince the victims of the reckless functioning of the agencies about the checks and balances the country has instituted. Getting the youth to trust the system is the most important challenge Mr Modi faces now. He must do whatever it takes to achieve the goal.
