Why no one wants a single entrance test

Bengaluru: Like any 18-year-old, Harshavardhan A had blocked his calendar from March till May. After his II PU exams got over, he zeroed in on 10 entrance tests in various cities, eyeing that coveted medical seat.
Four years ago, a six-member national committee under the aegis of the Medical Council of India (MCI) proposed a common national test so that students like Harshavardhan needn’t travel across the country to write entrance exams.But the powerful private college lobby ensured it was given a quiet burial. Earlier this year when the Karnataka government proposed a single entrance test, Harshavardhan saw some hope. On Monday, the cabinet dashed that too.
Apart from transparency, single entrance tests are aimed at reducing the burden of writing multiple entrance tests for lakhs of students aspiring to pursue professional courses.
“At present, a student writes nearly 20 entrance tests for undergraduate medical courses and 25 for postgraduate ones. When we proposed the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), we wanted to ensure a student from Kalaburagi doesn’t have to go to Mumbai or Delhi just to write an exam,’’ said Dr Devi Shetty, noted cardiologist who spearheaded the common national test campaign.
But thanks to vested interests, the single entrance test will remain a dream. The controversial clause of private managements’ mandatory surrender of 50% seats to the government quota nixed the proposal. There was confusion over eligibility and entrance.
So why has the single entrance test remained elusive for successive governments? Academicians point out that a common test for colleges will cut into managements’ profits. “There is no room for manipulation or seat blocking, or converting general merit quota into management quota. Colleges will lose all their power. Why would they want that? Besides, many politicians in Karnataka and other states own colleges. So it’s a question of ethics,’’ pointed out a former VC.
Monday’s cabinet decision has sealed all hopes of a single entrance test in Karnataka — a state where even deemed universities conduct their own tests for admission. The decision to regularize the consensual agreement every year with private college managements was the last nail in the coffin of a system that ensured bright but economically weak students from places like Bidar or Kalaburagi could also pursue their dreams to be a doctor or an engineer.
With the capitation fee industry valued at Rs 12,000 crore and controlled by just 100 medical colleges in the country, transparency and ethics will continue to be a distant dream.
Students caught in between
The carrot-dangling that occurred year after year since 1994 has now become a law. The government has only given more bargaining powers to the private college lobby. Caught in the middle are thousands of hapless students who are being punished for no fault of theirs.
- Former AICTE chairman