Single entrance test for admission to higher education institutes?

C N R Rao, Chairman of the Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (SAC-PM), has suggested that the HRD Ministry declare higher education as a national mission for the next decade and designate "capable individuals" to oversee that changes occur without much delay.

Rao, in a four page document titled "Essential Steps for Progress in Higher Education: A Check-list", suggests that the country should also identify 10 higher educational institutes and provide all support to enable them compete with the best of the institutes in advanced countries to contribute to quality research.

The document, which will be submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, strongly recommended "only one national examination" to assess students eligibility.

He said young "people suffer so much to succeed in these entrance examinations that in the process they lose excitement in education itself". In this regard, he pointed to the practice adopted by USA in enrolling Indian students based on only the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) examination.

The examination system, including the college finals, he felt, seems to have destroyed creativity in young people.

"When will young people stop taking exams and do something worthwhile? It is important to relook at the entire examination system including the system of final examinations, qualifying examination, selection examination and so on," Rao observed.

He said the present scenario demands highly creative and innovative people to take up challenges in science and other subjects and tackle problems related to national and global needs.

"It is therefore essential to see that everything we do in the education sector promotes creativity," he said. He also suggested constitution of a task force by the HRD Ministry to prepare an action oriented document to provide a roadmap for the higher education sector.

"It is desirable that the document becomes available in next 12 months. What may also be necessary for the HRD Ministry is to declare higher education as a national mission for the next decade," he said.