There will be a time in the not to distant future that a student getting a 99% in his boards would look forward to the DU cut off list with genuine trepidation. It begs the question whether using standard 12 results as a measure of merit for admissions in DU are still viable given that even average students are securing 90 plus scores.
This week Juxtapose asks you to debate whether the introduction of entrance exams for admission into DU in place of the current cut off system is the way forward.
Please leave your argument in the comment box .
Results :-
15 comments
Abhinn Khanna says:
Aug 20, 2012
Against :
No this is not the way forward. Entrance exams though will make the selection more fair but would be completely nullify the importance of boards. Not agreeing with the current system of board examinations also I would like to point out that instead of just giving everyone marks and increasing the overall % age CBSE should be more strict towards setting papers and checking. Entrance exams would give the students with actual caliber to step up and claim a seat in the reputed colleges of DU but then the studies till 12th class would completely be useless if the students don’t study for those important years and also conducting such a huge entrance exams for hundreds of courses on a national scale would be really tough financially and organizing wise. Stay put with the board examinations but that needs to change too
Abhinn Khanna ( DCAC )
Shrishti aggarwal says:
Aug 20, 2012
The problem does not lie in every second student getting above 90% but the problem lies in cbse marking schemes and lineancy in checking. When the checkers and cbse will be strict and students will be given genuine marks according to their level then their will be no uwanted inflation in marks. Also then DU cut offs will be justified and there will be no need for entrance exams. Also there are many parents who can not afford a good education for their children. So adding form cost to the admission procedure will worsen their condition. Introducing one common entrance exam for admission in DU will leave out many students from getting admissions in a good reputed governmnent college and then students will have to seek admission in some private college which has got high tution fee. Number of govermnent colleges should be increased and there should be a change in cbse checking pattern.
Shruti Maheshwari says:
Aug 20, 2012
Class 12th score was indeed a viable option until CBSE started giving out marks in large chunks unnecessarily and raised the number of 90% plus scorers to an all time high since the last year. Where there’s an entrance for a number of courses presently from btech to mass communication, an addition of entrances for admission to DU is only going to make students’ lives miserable with full focus only on the entrances. But isn’t an intelligent student with a comparatively low score (85% is a sad story in today’s scenario, isn’t it? ) losing out on good oppurtunities just because a certain teacher forgot to grade his copy properly?
Instead of relying on a single method, a midway should be adopted giving equal weightage to board percentage as well as entrance examinations. Not only will it help in the formation of a better picture for the university but will also help the students in analysing their potential and interest in that particular subject ruling out the possibility of a selection of a subject just out of desperation for fetching a seat in a better college.
Shruti Maheshwari
Gargi college
sampurna das (KNC) says:
Aug 20, 2012
KNC
It would be welcome step …as in across the country there are various boards..all of them dont have the same marking pattern,some state boards are not scoring (where the highest of my time was 89%)as compared to CBSE n like…with ever shoting DU cut offs..those people are facing problems in getting there admissions done …so if common entrances are being introduced it would be of great help to them…the ntrance procedure should limit itself to only ENGLISH department..thank u..
Tanya Sharma says:
Aug 20, 2012
The gateway to DU SHOULD NOT be through an entrance test as this would not only inflict pressure among the students to compete for yet another competitive exam in this already existing cut-throat scenario,but it will completely marginalize the importance of boards.It will do nothing more than making students’ lives miserable.Now a days every other university takes it’s own entrance test for admissions.Adding a score to it will do no good.Rather the sole aim of education will get limited to giving entrances only.It is indeed painful that even a student getting 99% in boards refrains from getting admitted to the college of his dreams.But an entrance test is no solution to it.Rather the board’s policies need to be altered for it gives sky-rocketing marks to students which further carves way for higher cutoffs.
TANYA SHARMA (MIRANDA HOUSE)
Ridhi Chugh says:
Aug 20, 2012
It is high time that we shifted from Boards to Entrance Exams. It is the school that should be preparing the students for the Entrance Exams and not the various Coaching centers that people join.
I do not think Entrance Exam will pressurize students in any way if it is the only benchmark. Most countries follow this system and I don’t see why India can’t. And I am strongly against a mid-way because that will surely confuse the students. They would not know what to focus on: the boards or the Entrance.
Telling the CBSE guys to be strict is stupid because there is nothing that can be done because the sheer amount of answer sheets which need to be checked. And besides every teacher has his own subjective view about the right kind of answer, and this unfairness can only be eliminated by introducing Entrance and doing away with the misleading board exams.
IP College
Arnav says:
Aug 20, 2012
Arnav – St Stephens
The problem here is not Cbse and its checking but the system of cut off itself. It is the high cut off that causes teachers across all boards to mark leniently so as to not adversely affect the life of some student. A 97% cut off this year will make teachers mark even more leniently next year. It is somewhat cyclic in nature, a never ending self-perpetrating mess.
An entrance test, common in nature, would be an ideal solution. Unlike some of the above suggestions, i disagree Khat there need to be multiple tests. Just as in the boards we have 3 streams, we can have a common test with3 options for the students to attempt depending on their background.
Fact is that a long time back engineering colleges also admitted students based on board marks but they soon realized the Ecla in the marking system. Hence they developed a common aptitude test for all streams of engineering.
Hence, to gain competitive advantage over other universities, Delhi university also needs to introduce a similar feature.
And in refutation to some suggestions that having an entrance exam would mean that the boards would lose all significance :
1) I fail to see why it is Delhi university’s responsibility to give importance/retain the value of board examinations.
2) Considering how most students in India opt for an engineering or medical degree, I’m guessing the boards have already lost all significance. The effect of this move would just be marginal.
Pallavi Sehtya says:
Aug 20, 2012
Entrance tests for admissions to every undergraduate course would just add to the profits of coaching centres and would remove the focus from the board exams. The aspirants would just prepare for the entrance,rather than studying for the boards. So a more viable option is to introduce a multiple choice test of class 12th syllabus, so that the school studies get due attention, and provide equal weightage to both the entrance and the boards result,so that no student is put to disadvantage due to the subjective (and sometimes careless) checking of the board checkers.
Pallavi Sehtya
DCAC
Harnidh Kaur says:
Aug 21, 2012
For the motion:
CBSE’s marking scheme works on the principal of rote-learning and nothing more. A student’s aptitude is not measured. The only Honors course that DU has an entrance exam for (i.e. English, CATE)has profited from it. It’s an adequate compromise, with the Board marks being counted, and an large chunk of the checking is computerized, ensuring fairness. This allows the aptitude of a student in a particular subject to shine through, while maintaining the relevance of 12th grade. Such tests will have to be the way to go. Like in CATE, a set syllabi should be done away with, leaving awareness of the subject as the only criterion of success. This nullifies the proposed monopoly of the coaching classes too.
Harnidh Kaur
LSR
Smriti says:
Aug 23, 2012
Against the motion
With enough coaching centres mushrooming in the city, we welcome more!
The whole concept of education in itself needs to be re examined. I fail to understand how studying for marks/degree holds higher significance than gaining knowledge. Take the live example of Andhra pradesh, where engineering, entrance exams and coaching is the only conception of Education.. Welcoming entrance exams will further narrow down the importance of elementary level education.
To tackle it, we need to increase the standard and keep a tab on the evaluation procedure. So one doesnt turn a blind eye to the current elementary level scenario of the education system AND that further helps in admission at the higher level, through authentic marking and evaluation procedure. Nip the problem in the bud, instead of creating new ones.
Smriti, Venky
Shataakshi Verma says:
Aug 23, 2012
Putting a bar of “An entrance exam” on the students would just prove the 3 idiots phrase ” Life is a race….if you dont run fast you will be like a broken andaa” to be true to every word. After getting over with the race of “scoring above 90% or else you wont get admission” one will get stuck with race of “scoring in the entrance test” so to get into D.U’s Best college. What difference would that make ? Isnt it the same scenario as before .It’s still a race where at one end is “WON” and the other “GAME OVER”. We need to grow above this education system , only passing an exam does not prove you “Have it all”… So to stop this idiocy of winning or losing the race , CBSE Board needs to revamp it’s checking procedures, to not distribute marks as if they were ZIMBABWEAN DOLLARS ! and when the credibility of the Board system would change simultaneously the cut-off’s for the various D.U colleges will stop touching the skies.
Shataakshi Verma
Maitreyi College
Namrata Gupta says:
Aug 24, 2012
Relying on the entrance tests solely wouldn’t be different from relying on the high percentage marks for admissions. The only difference the system of entrance tests would make will be in the mindset of the students. Students now study hard to get good grades in CBSE and after the introduction of this scheme, would study hard to get good grades in the entrance tests. Thus, the problem would not be solved. The need of the hour is to introduce a more enhanced method of evaluation that would take into consideration the marks scored in class 12th as well as the result of the entrance test. In this system, if a student fails to get good marks in class 12th, he/she still has an option of getting into a good college by covering up for the loss of marks in the entrance test. Also, it would serve a great deal to analyse the actual potential of the student beyond the spoon feeding of the school texts. Entrance tests like that of journalism, CATE and various others test the students on the basis of this scheme and are thus, able to bring out the best in the students. This will ensure that all the deserving candidates get into good colleges instead of suffering if they don’t score well in a single paper which can eventually bring down their overall percentage marks.
Namrata Gupta
Hans raj college
Shreya says:
Aug 24, 2012
i believe there should be a system of entrance exam in DU colleges.for instance just like cbse matric exams have become so easier in a meanwhile when 12th boards will be experimented with,the system would become even crookier and lame.moreover this would help admissions of truly proficient students,inbuilding in them a sense of self establishment as well.today when cut off system is being followed,some people through middlemen manage to get their seats confirmed.adding to this if entrance exams are adopted students who face them would work harder to widen their knowledge in that aspect nd will get to learn better aspects.entrance exams would even pacify those students who change their streams from science to arts or as such..this system will surely bring transparency and bettere deserving students.just like the CATE system,which gives weightage to both academics and competition a middleway has to be adopted.adding to which.the bar on state boards,which vary will be raised.(Shreya KNC)
Dakshee (Gargi College) says:
Aug 25, 2012
For : Yes, there should be entrance exams for all DU aspirants. This reduces the pressure to a great extent and also, equal opportunity is given to all categories of students.
As far as the school academics/boards are concerned. The papers could be made much easier, less importance could be given to our board result at the time of admission. For example, the admission criteria should consist of 20% board marks and 80% entrance result. Also, the board marks could be an accumulation of internal as well as external exams and also extra curricular activities (something like the CCE)because different students tend to score well in different areas.
This would help a lot of students and make 12th grade “not so terrifying”.
DUbeat says:
Aug 25, 2012
This debate is now closed.