Are Competitive Examinations Ideological?

A n examination in any competitive form involves mutually exclusive realities of success and failure. But, not all exams are intense, except for when they are couched in a competitive mode. Arguably, exams that propel aspirants into what are publicly perceived as “darling destinations,” such as the civil services, and the medical, management and software engineering fields, are really intense as the fruits accruing from them are much sought after. These desires to make it to such destinations tend to trap the aspirants into the syndrome of competition while they are still in their childhood.

Since these examinations are necessary to acquire entry into these distinct destinations, they naturally attract a huge number of candidates who compete only for a few hundred or a few thousand seats. Examinations in general act as filters and tend to produce more failure and less success. For example, those conducted under the aegis of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), and the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE), Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Exam (IITJEE), and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) select only a few thousand candidates from among the several lakhs of canditates who appear for these examinations.