Trendspotting: Shifting Goalposts - The Ephemeral Criteria for College Admissions

Trendspotting: Shifting Goalposts - The Ephemeral Criteria for College Admissions
21st June 2024
The school-leaving board examinations have been the goal of academic transactions over 14 years of education. These examinations have reigned supreme, casting their shadow of all-pervasiveness over countless students, as the results are the gateway to Higher Education. However, the landscape of college admissions has shifted almost entirely. The emphasis has moved from a summative board examination to standardised college entrance tests such as the CUET, IIT-JEE, and NEET. In the multitude of school examination boards in India, with varying assessment criteria and standards, the move to standardised testing promises a level playing field for university entrance. Like any major change, this, too, has ignited debate.
Do these standardised exams truly bridge the gap between different examination boards, or do they inadvertently reinforce existing disparities, exacerbating the divide between the privileged and the disadvantaged? Will they alleviate the pressure on high school students, or will they intensify stress and perpetuate the culture of rote learning?
Join us for our latest instalment of “Trendspotting,” an insightful exploration into the shifting sands of examinations and testing university admissions in India. We delve deep into the nuances of these changes with a panel of academics, educators, and school and university administrators. The panellists will explore the impact of reduced use of school-leaving examinations as an entrance criterion and the greater role of specialised admissions tests. We will focus on how this will affect student learning paradigms. Will the shift towards standardised testing reduce student learning to rote memorisation fixated solely on exam preparation? How can the current system, with its myriad testing requirements, cultivate holistic learning and enable students to flourish in their pursuit of knowledge?
Panellists:
Sandhya Awasthi (Principal, Delhi Public School, Greater Noida)
Aarthi Muralidharan (Senior Vice President, Educational Initiatives, Head of the ASSET Tests)
Avika Mantri (Recently graduated Class 12 student, School Captain of Welham Girls’ School)
Meenu Arora (Counselling Psychologist and Outreach Strategist, Krea University)
Gautam Puri (Vice Chairman, Career Launcher)
Moderator:
Shashank Vira (Managing Partner, Hearth Advisors)
Trendspotting: Why Things Matter, a collaboration between the India Habitat Centre and Hearth Advisors, presents discussions about an evolving future. The monthly series connects the frontiers of academia, research, societal concerns, technology and evolving thought with issues that matter to people’s lives. Discover insights and predictions to be prepared for a thriving tomorrow by breaking down silos between education, employability, research, technology, and sustainability.