The multiple-choice question (MCQ) model followed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for entrance exams does not align with the holistic evaluation system adopted by leading foreign universities during admission, several academicians have said.

The experts believe Indian institutes should review the MCQ-based model and factor in other criteria such as academic records and extra-curricular activities.

Prof. Ambar Habib, a faculty member of mathematics at Shiv Nadar University, said leading universities in the US, the UK, Australia or Canada use entrance scores to determine the minimum standard for admission rather than candidate selection for undergraduate or postgraduate courses.

"The standardised MCQ-based tests like Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) or Graduate Record Examination (GRE) are gradually losing their relevance for admission purposes in leading international universities. It is because these universities found that students who scored well with the help of coaching did not do well in college. So they started looking at other things like school academic records, essays and statements about achievement or career objectives, recommendations, and extracurricular activities. Some institutions hold interviews, too. They give minimal or nil weightage to entrance scores," Habib said.

In India, NEET for admission into medical courses, JEE for engineering courses, CUET for UG and PG admissions and NET for PhD courses are MCQ-based tests conducted by the NTA.

Habib said the Indian admission system, based on the MCQ-based test model, encouraged coaching where students were taught to master the tricks to quickly answer questions rather than learn the concepts.

“Students come to me for help to solve math problems. Solving the problems by following the proper process takes longer than the time available to students in the exam. The coaching institutions teach quick tricks to solve these problems within a couple of minutes. It is the rigorous practice based on tricks that help students in JEE rather than a comprehensive understanding of the concepts,” Habib said.

Prof. Anita Rampal, former dean of the faculty of education at the University of Delhi, said a good admission test could not be based only on MCQs.

"The MCQ tests students’ practice, speed, pattern recognition and recall of information by memory rather than the academic ability to analyse, understand and communicate. Moreover, this information-based test, which requires rapidly choosing one answer, does not reflect any deeper interest or aptitude of students for a particular course,” Rampal said.

She said an exam for the selection of students had to be aligned with the specific requirements of a particular course.

Former CBSE chairman Ashok Ganguly said the MCQ-based format worked well for the selection of best-coached students, not necessarily the meritorious ones.

“Earlier, we used to have a two-tier setup — first an MCQ-based test to reduce the number of candidates to manageable levels and then the traditional test booklet to evaluate candidates. It was a near-perfect model,” he said.