CAT – Only in the Name?



Every year students and their parents undergo the dreadful season of seeking admissions in different colleges like Delhi University. Long queues, no. of entrance examinations, plethora of forms, and loads and loads of confounded people…

Why can’t we try to fix this? Is this a problem without any solution or are we short of solutions to remedy this? The instant anyone thinks about admissions, whether it is at the primary level or the senior, people grow fatigued, scared, and disoriented!! Why is seeking admission such an annoyance? Irrespective of which stream one wants to get into, one has to appear for a number of examinations, and once that is over, then begins the waiting game for the results to be finally out. Not only money, but time, energy, effort, and mental peace all are invested in this tedious and tardy process.

Is not our Education Department efficient enough to find out an effective remedy to cure this ailment? Or is the intelligentsia sitting there in the chambers of the Parliament too busy to witness the plight of the students and their parents? The basic problem is that the Authorities are not able to see the wastage that such a process is doing. And, therefore they are not taking this urgent call.

Have you ever appeared for the G-MAT examination that usually one appears for, if in case one is planning to go overseas for further studies? If not applied for it, at least you must be aware of the basic concept behind it. There is no issue of giving different examinations for applying in different colleges, thus, the applicant is spared of the horror of giving myriad examinations. What is your stand on such a system where one good score is all one needs to get to a good institute and a desired course?

All the institutes of the country can decide upon the course for the common entrance examination (CAT), see to the degree of the difficulty and so on, so that every student gets what he /she is best suited for. And, the government can thereby easily put a check on the meddling done with the results and ensure that the deal is completely fair to all.

Won’t it be great if all the colleges across India, at least at the graduation level take up this initiative, so that the students can concentrate on only one examination and both the authorities and the students are at ease? Just give it a thought. Imagine, if something like this is done, then the students will have to focus on only one examination score. Just one form, just one examination and everyone gets the course and the college as per one’s score. And this can be done for all types of competitive and non-competitive examinations, like one common examination for Engineering, one for Medical, one for Humanities and so on.

Not only will the time, money and the energy of the students and their parents will be saved but also, the authorities will be spared of the redundant task of checking so many papers and then allotting the course and the college. Further, imagine the ease that this implementation will bring forth with it. It will speed up the whole process of admission and at the same point cut down all the troubles clinging to it. It will augment the efficiency of the admission system and would give the colleges more time to do other constructive errands. And this system would make it possible for the students to get the best of what they are worth for.

Furthermore, the authorities could see to it that only the UGC recognized or NAAC accredited universities feature into their list of universities, so that the fake colleges can be thrown out of their businesses, corruption in the education arena can be checked and the education can be made free from every type of distinction.

Don’t you think that this would revolutionize the world of education, only if the people give up their vested self-interests and think about the growth of the nation as a whole.