Editorial 1 : Answer is a question bank
Introduction: The NDA government has rightly appointed a committee under the leadership of Koppillil Radhakrishnan, former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to “make recommendations on reforming the mechanism of the examination process and improving data security protocols and the structure and functioning of NTA (National Testing Agency)”.
Challenges to conduct public examination in India?
- The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, in its 336th report in 2021 had also taken note of some key challenges in the conduct of public examinations.
- It stated that “even after several decades, many State Universities regularly fail smooth and flawless conduct of examinations.
- Instances like question paper leak, administering a wrong question paper, confusion about seating arrangements and examination centre, rampant cases of copying, framing questions that are out of syllabi, wrong examiners being appointed for assessment and student-examiner nexus etc are still not uncommon.”
- Its report also said that “the Committee recommends that the parameter of the Institution’s exam management competency be also considered as a mandatory norm towards consideration of accreditation.
- The NAAC and NBA should award marks/grades to such universities/institutes who conduct examinations smoothly.”
- The recommendation to look into the “experiments like the Question Bank system” besides incentivising “adoption of complete digitisation of the examination process by institutes/universities to ensure fair and timely conduct of examination and declaration of results, amongst others” is noteworthy.
How can ‘question bank system’ be helpful?
- The Question Bank system provides a solution to several issues.
- When a question bank providing a category-wise pool of questions is provided to the students at the beginning of an academic year, the element of secrecy vanishes.
- Professional wrongdoers out to leak a question paper also lose their “business”.
- With likely questions already in the public, all that is left to the agencies conducting examinations is a draw of specific serial numbers of questions to be made a part of the question paper, limited to a specific examination centre.
- Rules should provide for total rejection of the answer sheet when an examinee attempt questions not earmarked for his respective examination centre.
- When public examinations are conducted through this Question Bank system, issues like question paper leak, framing of out-of-syllabus questions or administering a wrong question paper, etc, can be eliminated and foul-play or cheating tendencies nipped in the bud.
- The Question Bank system potentially provides a one-stop solution to many challenges.
- It curbs the tendency of preparing for specific questions, ignoring the need to grasp a subject holistically.
- Also, with the question bank already made public, no teacher can enjoy the liberty of not covering portions of the syllabus.
- If one chooses to have questions with different chronological number/s for every other student; the question of copying and related unfair practices may not arise at all.
Independent management of education: A need for Indian Education Service
- The larger question is of the woefully inadequate supply of human resources to provide leadership to our educational institutions, not just universities but also colleges and schools.
- It is high time we deliberate upon the advisability of evolving an independent cadre, an Indian Education Service.
- This may help some amount of quality control and perhaps, provide fillip to institution-building in the present-day context.
- It is time to recognise the urgency and importance of evolving independent courses in school management, college management and also university management.
- If such courses are introduced, a few years later, we can have varsity VCs and registrars who have a Masters in University Management besides having a doctorate in their own discipline.
Conclusion: Trust in the system and guarantee of transparency, fairness and justice are the mainstays of any evaluation system. The introduction of question banks, evolving alternate evaluation systems and incubating institutional leadership will ensure that this trust remains intact.
Editorial 2 : After the stampede
Introduction: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced that a retired judge will probe Tuesday’s deadly stampede at a satsang (religious congregation) held by a self-styled preacher in Hathras. The investigation will “pinpoint lapses” and the culprits won’t be spared, he has said.
The unfortunate incidence and its accountability
- Accountability for the incident that claimed more than 120 lives and left at least 300 injured must be fixed urgently.
- Initial reports indicate that the crowd gathered to hear the godman, Bhole Baba, far exceeded the estimate the organisers gave to the district administration.
- Many devotees tripped while trying to collect the soil the self-proclaimed preacher had walked on.
- There is no doubt that the satsang’s organisers must be held to account.
- But the state administration would be mistaken to assume that its role in a mass event, even if privately organised, is limited to issuing permissions and providing security.
- Along with the organisers, the onus is on state authorities to ensure that safety isn’t compromised.
- State government must deploy its energies and resources, instead, in uncovering the multiple failings behind the grievous incident, and ensuring that it does not happen again.
What should be done to prevent such large gathering mishaps?
- Authorities must be stringent about the size of a gathering.
- However, the administrative and police machinery is not always equipped to ensure that the crowd does not swell beyond the sanctioned numbers.
- In such situations, the number and placement of exits at the event are crucial, as are real-time interventions to ensure that religious or cultural fervour does not imperil public safety.
- Healthcare facilities should be kept on alert.
- By all accounts, many of these boxes were not ticked at Hathras.
What went wrong in Hathras?
- Safety, it is now apparent, was not a priority for the organisers of the satsang and the administration did precious little to nudge them to take the necessary precautions.
- The devotees had gathered in a makeshift tent, pitched on a field made marshy by the rains.
- The terrain caused many to slip and the humid weather made matters worse.
- The narrow exit routes at the satsang site, partly blocked by vehicles, were insufficient to evacuate the panicking crowd.
- The nearby hospital was hard-pressed to handle the influx of injured people.
- Several doctors were reportedly not at work and the healthcare facility did not have oxygen cylinders to support people suffering respiratory distress.
A lesson must be drawn form mismanagement of Hathras disaster
- Religious gatherings, festivals, weddings and functions that draw large crowds are a regular part of the cultural, political and religious calendars of almost every district, or even neighbourhood, in the country.
- Hathras is a lesson — such gatherings are susceptible to panic-inducing triggers.
- The tragedy should push policymakers to evolve safety-related protocols.
- The state government and administration must reflect on their lacunas.
- If possible, a pan-national level regulation must be drawn to manage the crowd in such type gatherings.
Conclusion: Governments and their agencies must reflect on the reason for their failures to stop incidence of stampede in large gatherings. State government and other authorities across the country — must ensure that mass gatherings do not turn chaotic and take such a high toll.