While the switch from GCET to JEE may seem abrupt to many students preparing to answer the state exam, it falls in line with the central government’s initiative of CUET under which the admissions to undergraduate and postgraduate courses are done in a centralised manner by National Testing Agency (NTA).
“The government simply expects them to adjust to the changes made, which is very apathetic of the government,” feels a professor from South Goa.
This will no doubt increase the intake of big-money coaching classes and put more pressure on the economically weaker sections of society to pay-to-learn. Since the Goa government has not announced any initiatives to assist Goan students in pursuing excellence in the JEE exam, this decision seems rather callous and not well-thought-out.
“A better plan with a smooth outline of modifications to enhance the preparedness of Goan students for such national exams would have been useful if not necessary,” opines the professor.
Overall, the move to JEE may be beneficial in the long run, but the journey toward achieving this excellence may be fraught with many challenges for the students and parents, with benefits accruing only to the government and coaching classes, feels the professor.
The decision has a long term vision and is taken in the good faith to benefit the students and to save them from the stress of answering multiple exams simultaneously, opines educationist Prof Madhav Srinivas Kamat.
Admitting that there are pros and cons, the former president of Murgaon Education Society feels that this could be a step towards making a common entrance exam throughout the country. Instead of multiple exams conducted individually by each State and making students to answer them, if they wish to pursue study in other states, answering one JEE would be a key to open the doors of higher education in the most prestigious engineering colleges.
“And it would avoid conflict of dates of various exams too, lessening the burden on students. Of course, the question remains whether all other States would also follow the footsteps of Goa government and take a similar decision, to scarp State entrance exams. It depends on the Central government to convince them. As of now, the BJP-ruled states may follow the suit, leaving states ruled by other parties, which may be adamant in retaining their state exams,” adds the veteran educationist.
“As far as education is concerned, it is subject to concurring decisions by the State government which can pass its own decisions, however where there is conflict of decisions, the central law prevails,” pointed out Kamat.
There is red carpet welcome to this decision too, especially from the industrial sector. “It’s the best decision and a great thought,” quips Nitin Kuncolienkar, former GCCI president, and points out that even GCET entrance papers are set by Mumbai IIT. “It was very stressful for students to face multiple entrance tests. Most students would welcome this. This has no impact on tutorial classes,” opines Kuncolienkar.
But parents are sceptical, “It’s a tutorial mafia working in the State. The middle class will be pushed to poverty by paying the fees of their children, with a fond hope of their child compete in JEE. It’s a scam and needs to be investigated, if not by government, than at least by investigative media,” opined a parent.
A medical professional described it as an untimely decision. “Illiterate people make unjust decisions on education and decide such type of criteria meant for admissions which general category students will never get. Those sitting in the education department are inclined towards coaching classes. Some of the coaching classes are owned by politicians,” claimed the doctor, alleging that GCET was anyway a farce as there was no negative marking.
A former student from Veroda, Ackyshma Fernandes, who attended coaching classes before answering her entrance exam, finds it is unfair. “In my opinion there will be only loss because students have already prepared for the entrance test and it would be really burdening to start preparing for the 11th std syllabus as well since GCET only includes the 12th std syllabus,” said Ackyshma.
