How to get over admission test quagmire

Mayhem involving admission test has long been a regular phenomenon, after the publication of results of HSC and equivalent examinations every year. Admission-seekers and their guardians get in a mad rush for the golden deer - a seat in a 'good' public university. That eventually appears to have come to a raucous pass.     
Such a rat race is nothing unusual in a country that has been going through a transition in various dimensions, and where all are overwhelmingly busy securing their share of the pie--with an 'I-take-all' attitude, considering little about others. However, the recent admission test-related quagmire seems to have sent shockwaves across the country, and triggered manifold problems.
This year country's major public universities have imposed a ban on second-time admission-seeking. It means no student is allowed to sit for admission test for a second time, no matter whether s/he has not yet secured a seat in any varsity or after getting a chance is trying luck for a better option.
Dhaka University led the way. And other universities like Jahangirnagar and Jagannath followed suit. The sudden move put the second-timers in a fix. The decisions came out of the blue and were not 'acceptable' at all, they say.     
Subsequently, they resorted to different types of programmes, like submitting memorandum, forming human chain, demonstrations and hunger strike. (Luckily they abstained from vandalizing vehicles and letting loose panic among people. The government might have treated it as their 'weakness' and probably that's why was not paying heed to their demand).
Meanwhile, these gladiators of the late-post-modern age also vowed to continue their 'mortal combat' till the last drop of blood.
Amid the prevailing situation, it is apprehended that the country's tertiary-level education may continue facing problems regarding admission test in future also. But the institutions, the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the government (the real supervisor of everything in Bangladesh) might and should avoid the turmoil by considering the following short-, middle-and long-term steps:
a) The government can take initiatives to take the university admission tests in clusters to reduce hassle, time, money and anxiety of the students, their guardians and the institutions also. For example - Cluster-A might consist of specialized engineering universities, like - BUET, CUET, RUET and KUET etc; Cluster-B: medical and dental colleges (as already done), Cluster-C: general universities, like - Dhaka, Jahangirnagar, Jagannath, Chittagong, Rajshahi University, Khulna and Comilla etc; Cluster-D: science and technology universities, like - Shahjalal and Mawlana Bhashani etc; and Cluster-E might consist of specialized universities, like - Textile and Leather Technology etc. If it can be done, the universities can take cluster-wise admission tests conveniently, like the public exams, complete the test-related procedures swiftly, and start classes without wasting much time.
b) A central database of admission-seekers can be established, like the NID database, with their SSC and HSC registration or roll numbers, so that each student's admission in any institution can be recorded and traced. It would also help in providing a real-time scenario of how many seats are available and how many are vacant in the institutions across the country. On the basis of the database information the universities and the students can decide their next course of action by evaluating the options, available (or not available) to them. The database would thus work as a web-bridge among the varsities and the students to ensure maximum utilization of the limited number of seats.
c) Each of the departments can enroll some 'supernumerary' (read extra) students from the merit list than its original capacity to put an end to the prevailing seat wastage following migration of the admitted students each year. For example, if a department experiences 15-20% dropout on an average each session, it can allow at least 10% extra students for 'check-and-balance'. The system can ensure optimum utilization of seat capacity of the institutions, and also help more students to pursue their dreams. In a country like Bangladesh, wasting the limited number of seats in the public universities may well be considered a 'deadly sin'.
d) The government should take pragmatic and fruit-bearing steps to narrow down the existing yawning gap of standards among the tertiary-level institutions. The volume of spending for the education sector has to be increased, considering it as investment for future, specifically for developing adequate infrastructure and facilities for teachers and students. Appointment of really capable, committed and creative university teachers, without considering political connection or nepotism, and gradual enhancement of their quality can lower the gap among the institutions.
e) Besides, the teachers of one university as well as specialist sector-insiders can be appointed as resource persons or research supervisors for the students of other universities in the form of guest or visiting faculty. At least they can share their expertise in respective fields with the students through video-conferencing or e-learning system on a regular basis under a sustainable and win-win arrangement. If the gap can be reduced substantially, the aspiring students might consider choosing their nearby institutions for higher education. This will in turn lower pressure on the demand for and cost of providing residential and other facilities for them.
f) Along with the inter-university quality gap the intra-university gap or the gap among the departments or institutes of the same university should be reduced. In this regard, students of all the departments of a university, in addition to their subject-related courses, can be taught some common basic skill developing courses - on language, communication and IT etc - which would exclusively prepare them for their future professional life. Moreover, the varsities should show them effective ways to connect their learning with real life and career as much as possible and as soon as possible. As a result, when they would enter the job market, they won't feel totally lost in the corporate maze. They might even manage job, without the blessings of any 'boro-vai' (political godfather) or 'mama-chacha' (powerful uncle) or without giving 'ghush' (bribe or underhand dealing). If it can be done, the students might remain satisfied (to some extent) to continue their study in the departments they would enroll and might not opt for migration or sit for admission test for the second time.   
g) Second-timers can be allowed to sit for admission test under certain conditions, like - reduction in obtained mark in the test or stipulating choice of clusters, as mentioned before. But their case needs to be considered from a humanistic point of view, as they sit for a second-time test sacrificing one valuable year of the prime time of their life. They also enter the job market later than their batch-mates, who get chance in the first time, and thus their job-applying period gets shortened also. If a candidate is allowed to sit for the public competitive exams, like - BCS etc, even after s/he has qualified once, why not the admission-seekers?
h) A powerful supervisory body or even the proposed University Accreditation Council, consisting of the representatives of the universities, the government and the UGC along with educationists and other stakeholders concerned, can be formed. The body would monitor the admission system centrally and devise effective mechanisms on a regular basis to make it as effective and 'user-friendly' as possible. If the quality and credibility of the country's tertiary education system can be enhanced to an 'enlightened' level, it would definitely bring higher recognition of the local institutions across the world, thus helping the country to produce larger number of prolific human resource diasporas.
i) The standard of the admission-test questions should follow the SSC and HSC curriculum standards. It would ensure that the students get less panicked and depend less on coaching centres to realize their long-cherished dreams by adopting analog method of question leak or various digital methods of fraudulence during the exams. In this connection, coaching centres, if not closed, should be strictly monitored. Stern actions must be taken against the evil nexus of the coaching maestros - the centres and their owners, directors or shareholders, and other masterminds - senior or admission-seeking students - if found involved in any form of cheating.
j) Last of all, the universities should stop treating the students as guinea-pigs of their whims. Any major change in admission policy must be implemented at least two academic sessions after it was declared. If it can be done, the students can be ready and equip themselves for the change, mentally and academically, and the institutions can have a 'rock-solid' moral base to cherish and uphold their initiatives.
It's not like that these steps would act as the panacea to all the problems related with admission test in the country's tertiary education system. But these steps, if properly implemented, would at least act as a catalyst to initiate the metamorphosis, urgently needed at present to save the system from 'eternal damnation'.

Minhazul Anwar Mridul is a News Consultant at The Financial Express. He can be reached at: [email protected]