Delhi University is regarded as the most coveted and sought after university in India. So many students from small towns and urban cities dream of bagging a seat in these top colleges.
However, in order to get the best students, the university comes out with unrealistically high cut- offs every year. As a result, Class XII Board exams become a nightmare for students as well as their parents. But what remains a pertinent question is if at all the age old cut-off based selection criteria is the right way to select the best students.
Probably not. The system has to slow down and see education and admission as a subjective issue. Students in schools are not encouraged to choose and explore subjects of their choice and to see it as a career option. Rather they are asked to compete with their peers in order to score the highest. The outdated ways of lecturing and hard theory classes take away any scope of creativity, love for knowledge, interpersonal skills and imagination.
To admit a student with 96% marks, and reject a student’s admission who scored 92% marks, (assuming both of the students are of general category. Let’s not refer to the reservation quota here), is far from being called a fair criterion. As a result of this, students who have little interest in the subjects that they are luckily able to bag with their high percentage, deprive the chances of students who scored a lesser percentage but have a higher interest in the subject.
Delhi University should consider conducting entrance examinations for all students across the country as a part of their selection criteria that could be a fair analysis of students’ interest, capability and merit. Being an important national university, it should take measures to revolutionize the idea of education and learning. It should act as a foundation stone to build a society that values multiple intelligence, encourages exploration, accepts failure, and allows people to define success on their terms.
The existing form of admission criteria and education system promotes herd mentality and merciless competition. It fails to develop a holistic and secular environment that promotes growth, learning, future leadership and harmonious living. In an over populated, hyper competitive country like India, such a future could be far but with tiny steps and a ray of hope, such a goal is worth fighting for.