Who stole my admission?

Much heartburn in college admissions can be reduced with greater computerisation

Imagine a situation where thousands of people are trying to get a confirmed seat by a particular date. They are desperate, and much depends on them getting the desired seat. Different people have different preferences and flexibility. Some are rigid about their desired choices, some have second, third or even fourth choices. Some want their seats or berths in groups, and some don’t mind going alone. Some are willing to pay a premium to get a confirmed seat. These people are from all over, not just one locality. The number of such people is not in thousands, but in lakhs or even millions. And this fervent search for a confirmed seat goes on every day in all parts of India.

Yes, we are talking about railway booking. And we solved this problem 20 years ago. The computerised railway reservation system is an unmitigated success, and was driven wholly by indigenously developed software, intellect, innovation and desire to succeed to solve a peculiarly

Indian problem. Today, an ordinary labourer from Muzaffarpur, or a businessman from Madurai or a trader from Kutch is a thankful and satisfied user of this system. The influence of touts and corrupt ticket window clerks is minimised (though not eliminated). Knowing someone senior in the Railways, or using influence to manipulate the booking system can’t get you far. Most importantly, there is a perception of fair play among millions of Railway customers.

If such be the case, why is it that we have been unable to solve the problem of college admissions? Even after two decades of using computerised reservation systems, based on user-supplied preferences and fallback choices, we are unable to adapt this to college admissions. Something is seriously amiss. Of course this year, parents of SSC kids were spared the agony of lining up outside colleges twice. They just had to do it once, i.e., to submit completed forms, and pay the advance fees. The downloading of blank admission forms (the first step) was largely computerised and centralised. This was a big relief. We now need to move to the central problem of allotment of seats to eligible and deserving candidates.

This problem in the context of medical admissions has been solved successfully for the US. Every year, candidates across the country fill out preference forms online before taking the national entrance examination called the MCAT. The algorithm (i.e., mathematical model) which optimally assigns candidates to their desired colleges is very complex, and was devised by expert mathematicians. We can adapt parts of this methodology for our college assignment problem for SSC kids.

Of course, we have the additional complications like domicile requirement, multiple boards with differing curricula and testing standards, and finally the dreaded 70:30 rule of favouring local vicinity students. But most of these criteria can be inbuilt into the system. And this needs to be tweaked and fine-tuned throughout the year, not just in June or July. The problem with the set of aggrieved parents every year is that they are no longer a vested interest lobby next year. Next year, we have a newer set of ‘victims’, so that a sustained lobby of ‘unionised’ parents cannot keep up the pressure and momentum to improve the system.

There are far too many weaknesses in the current system, least of all is the risk of losing non-refundable deposits in multiple colleges. No one is claiming that this is purely a software problem. Nor does a solution address the greater challenges of vastly differing teaching quality, funding, teacher supply and curricula obsolescence. But a hefty dose of computerisation will surely make the kids’ journey feel like Rajdhani, rather than cattle class.

Complications in the admission system need to be tweaked and fine-tuned throughout the year, not just in June or July

Ajit Ranade on the wheels that make Mumbai run — money and economy