Over-Centralization and Corruption: The Unseen Hands Shaping Indian Education

I had an amazing Friday night yesterday with one of my school buddies and someone else. I was in such a good mood this morning. Got up, had my coffee to deal with the hangover, switched on the news, and bam—another educational mishap. What's happening, India? Since June 5th, the internet has been flooded with NEET scam news that I still haven’t gotten over. I was watching the news but didn't feel like writing about the whole mess. But now there's another educational catastrophe: the UGC NET exam is being canceled. My mind was like, "This is it. You have to rant about the educational mishaps now." Because this is about the future of India.

The most obvious questions are, can we trust the education system? Do we really care about the future of India? And why are there so many scams around education? Can we trust the government to keep everyone's best interests in mind? Let's dive in, but first, let’s try to wrap our heads around this circus.

It's the third decade of the BJP era, and one thing they have been doing is changing the dynamic of how important Indian institutions function. Over-centralization of everything has been the prime focus. Is it good or bad? The answer depends on whether you believe in fairy tales or reality. They say with great power comes great responsibility, but let’s be real—with too much power comes corruption, especially if moral values are completely absent. We saw that happening in all the institutions over the last few months; it’s no secret anymore. The prime function of any democracy is to maintain the trust of people in its agencies, but that trust is evaporating faster than my Friday night buzz.

The autonomous institute NTA - National Testing Agency - was established in November 2017 under the Department of Higher Education of India. Its grand responsibility? To conduct all the exams related to higher education—be it NEET, Ph.D., or even getting into any other degree in India. The structure of this agency is as baffling as a plot twist in a bad movie. This agency wasn’t formed to foster trust in the education system. If fostering trust was the goal, they’d have built some accountability into the agency. For instance, earlier, CBSE was accountable. CBSE is registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013, with proper audits discussed in Parliament. On the other hand, NTA is registered under the Society Registration Act of 1860, so accountability is as scarce as a unicorn. Check out the NTA’s leadership: one chairman, some IAS officers, directors, and members. If you look into their caste and family backgrounds, the picture becomes clearer. Before this, colleges and state-level exams handled these tasks. For example, AI-PMT was in place of NEET, and colleges used to conduct entrance exams for higher education at the college level. This was done in the hope of a better system and more transparency, but surprise—too much centralized power leads to the opposite. It’s a system designed to legally scam students so that the oppressed classes stay right where they are.

Students who give the NEET exam are literally teenagers and have about as much life experience as a goldfish. These students are living off their parents' or guardians' money and instructions. Considering that the majority of them have no say in many of their life decisions, I doubt they know much about how this whole system functions. On the other hand, NET and SET students are aiming for jobs. These students are at a make-or-break moment in their lives, often under tremendous pressure from families who bombard them with questions like, "How many more years do you want to study?" "What's next?" "When will you start earning?" We need to understand the psychological pressure these students are under. 17 year old girl S Anitha committed suicide. Who is responsible? 

In the last few years, cases of paper leaks and exam mismanagement have skyrocketed. An Indian Express investigation found that in the last five years, there were 41 paper leaks in various exams. Yes, you read that right—41.

NEET got a lot of attention because it’s one of the most important entrance exams and because it involves not just a paper leak but institutional capture. NEET is basically an undergraduate eligibility cum entrance exam for all medical courses across India. This year, a whopping 23 lakh students appeared for the NEET exam, hoping not only for a better future but also for a fair chance based on their talent. Students who appeared for such national level exams are under tremendous pressure from everywhere—parents, society, peers, and their own dreams. Another pressure is getting into good colleges, as there are very few good medical colleges in our country.

So what went wrong with the NEET exam this year? Oh, just a few tiny issues. First, the paper leak, and it doesn’t stop there. Some grace marks were given for reasons that remain a mystery. In Godhra, an entire center was found to be corrupt, taking lakhs of rupees and promising to clear the NEET exam. Rahul Gandhi seems to be addressing this in Parliament, but so far, it’s all talk and no action.

Who is benefitting from such leaks and scams? Obviously, those with access and the means to afford it. These are not people from oppressed classes, low-income groups, or even villages. If you see it from one perspective, people who already have access to enough resources are the ones benefiting. If these things continue, the next generation of leaders and doctors will be so morally corrupt that trusting them will be a joke. Think about it: how can you trust someone who infiltrated the system using unethical means to be ethical?

Reservation has never been welcomed, even if it exists in the constitution. We have seen so much hate against students who get into colleges because of reservation. Also, people who do get jobs in government offices because of the reservation mandate, if we look at their designations, the real picture emerges. I talk to many people, even in my circle, who do not come from oppressed classes and still harbor negativity against reservation as they do not understand what it is. I myself was not much aware about it until recently. Spreading knowledge and awareness is the government’s job, which they did not do properly. And we have a government that does not support reservation much, even if they claim to for votes; the reality is far from it. Now, with all this happening, I see it as a direct hit on reservation for oppressed classes. If we can't change the constitution and take it away, then we are going to take it away another way.

Manipur ignored, Ladakh protest ignored, Kisan protest ignored, female wrestlers' protest ignored. Am I missing anything? We also saw countless protests about exam paper leaks and mismanagement, but they were all ignored too. So, what can we hope for when students protest about the NEET exam? Is NEET and UGC NET the issue? Or is the game bigger than that? I leave it up to you to brainstorm.