The introduction of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) devalues school and college education as students will only be focused on passing the exam and not on actually learning.
This was stated by Shiv K Pradhan, the Head of the Commerce Department at St Anthony’s College and member of the Meghalaya College Teachers Association, following the first CUET exams in Meghalaya.
“What marks you get in Class 12 or undergraduate level hardly matters,” he said. “Students will hardly be interested in what’s being taught in school. What may happen (in future) is that higher secondary schools will offer coaching in CUET.”
Pradhan was careful to mention that this is his personal opinion and not that of the MCTA or college.
He also said that CUET, where students have to compete with the best from all around the country, will put higher education out of reach of marginalised students as they will likely not be able to afford the CUET test expenses and coaching classes that he expects will mushroom.
The organisation of the CUET for admission to undergraduate courses at the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) centre two days ago was a fiasco, with delays of several hours affecting the students.
Pradhan said that what happened demonstrated that those responsible were not able to handle the number of people that they were supposed to deal with.
“In such a situation what will be the mental state of the student, especially the trauma that they went through? In such a situation do you think that they (students) will be able to sit down and write an exam and qualify and apply for the best colleges in the country? Forget about it, they will not be able to get admission in the local colleges,” he added.
Proper planning should have been done as execution and not just having a good policy on paper is the most important thing, Pradhan said. The state government should, in future, take into account all possible aspects and not expect that what the central authorities recommend will suit Meghalaya at the ground level.
“It just cannot be copy and paste. One should take into account the local conditions and tweak the policies according to local conditions so that they will be suitable to the local people,” he said.
CUET is for admission to central universities and their affiliated colleges. Even some private universities have opted for it. After a loud protest that the state was not ready for its implementation, Meghalaya received a one year deferment by the central government for its introduction.
Pradhan said that many students from rural backgrounds did not apply for CUET because they did not know that it had to be done online and they were unable to afford it. As a result, they will not be able to study in any college affiliated to NEHU.
“So where will they go? They will go to private universities and their fees are exorbitant. Another option is you will have to give up studies,” he added, adding that cracking the CUET is tough and private universities and private colleges that are not affiliated to central universities will benefit.
