Working to be men in white : Quashing the AIPMT, 2015
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 19 2015 -

A damning indication of the true state of education in the country.

The decision of the Supreme Court of India to quash the All India Pre-Medical Test conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education on June 15 should be seen in its correct perspective.

Could not have been an easy decision, but the Supreme Court has made its stand clear and this is something which everyone should take note of.

True, it is the candidates who stand to be affected the most, but in the long run it is also a damning statement on how competitive exams can be twisted and fudged to benefit some elements who just do not have the needed academic credentials to become doctors.

Not that all the candidates who appeared for the examination on May 3 indulged in unfair means, but it should be clear that there were a sizeable number of students who had taken recourse to unfair means to become doctors later in life.

It is a good thing that the Supreme Court has cancelled the exams and it is here that the Government should wake up and see how cheating in competitive examinations can be plugged.

Very likely that this was not the first case of cheating and not likely that this would be the last either.

This is where thoughts ought to be given to the state of education or what is taught as part of the educational pursuits of the young students.

Why should candidates, that too candidates who want to become doctors come under the belief that they can cheat their way through ?

Has any thought been given on how to ensure that no rooms that can encourage use of unfair means are created ?

What happened to the AIPMT of 2015 is also indicative of the existence of a well knit network of people who can use their ingeniousness to beat the system and make below par students become doctors. This is a frightening situation.

That a career in medicine is highly sought after can be easily gauged from the statistics.

For some 3000 odd seats, about 6.3 lakh students appeared for the AIPMT this year. This means that only 0.6 percent of the students would emerge successful.

Indeed students really have to walk the extra mile to make it to medical school and hard, sincere work is the only way.

However given by the scale of cheating and use of unfair means in the AIPMT held recently, there is nothing much to suggest that all are ready to burn the midnight oil and work hard.

What happened to the AIPMT this year is also a reflection of the social reality, where corruption and cheating have become the pass words for success in life.

The reality is not at all comfortable. The figure which has just been quoted is also an indication of the immense pressure that the young students are subjected to every year.

It is not only the AIPMT and other competitive examinations such as IIT-JEE, CAT or other competitive examinations to get into either medical or engineering college but also getting admission into some of the more sought after universities such as Delhi University.

Competition is indeed tough these days yet at the same time it is also essential to ensure that the competition is clean and healthy.

Perhaps this is where a major shake up is needed to really prepare the young students for the future.