Fair admission test, not unified test is what is at stake

THE government has taken an initiative to introduce a unified test system for admission to all public and private universities to reduce the hassles of admission-seekers and their guardians. It appears many may take the move positively but most others also appears skeptical whether a unified system under centralized admission test will produce the best results. We must say there is no doubt the admission test system needs to be reformed and improved but which way better results may be achieved requires more nationwide debate. The government should seek opinion of the higher academics and scholars to evaluate and recommend a system before we decide on a unified test system.

It appears that the President as the Chancellor of all universities made the proposal on November 2 and he plans to hold meetings with Vice-Chancellors (VCs) of public and private universities soon to find out ways of unified admission test. He has also asked Education Ministry to take steps in this regard. A report in The New Nation on Sunday made the disclosure. It said the admission test might be taken centrally or regionally to avoid long travel by students. But many believe travel is not the big problem, the question is the quality of admission test marred with almost regular leakage of question papers and such other sideline admission business and corruption. In our view universities differ many ways and the diversity in admission test may also protect their specialty without surrendering selection of students to a new bureaucracy.

We don’t know whether a unified admission test will be able to shelve fears of misuse of the system where poor meritorious students are being pushed out now by sons and daughters of wealthy people. So the system needs to be corrected, not concentrated. Our higher education is seriously discriminated now concentrating at the upper end of the society.

The bigger question moreover is which organization will conduct such tests. The UGC may be one such organization or there may be another but whether they will have the capacity to hold such tests without leakage of questions and other intervention from powerful quarters on selection of students. A centralized system may make such intervention easier. When the final selection of BCS candidates reportedly come under such intervention, doubts can’t also be ruled out in case of a centralized university admission tests.

It is true that students suffer from innumerable hassles to appear in the admission tests at 37 public universities located in 19 cities besides 93 Private Universities located all over the country. But students and their families voluntarily endure the difficulties for the interest of higher education. In our view they are more concerned about a fair test and we are not sure whether a centralized test will be able to deliver it.