Reading this blog after 12 long years!
ravikiran.com/blog/examined/…
At least this was the problem back in the early-mid 2000s when I was in college
Very very tough examinations like the JEE or CAT - which can reliably distinguish a 99.99th %iler from a 99.8th %iler (Yes, there is usually a difference in quality)
But totally hopeless at distinguishing a 90th %iler from a 75th %iler
The ostensible purpose of these exams is to distinguish the 95th %iler from the 75th %iler (which JEE and CAT don't).
But these board exams DO NOT achieve this goal
There has to be a qualitative difference between the 25th ranked student in a class of 100 and the 40th ranked student. Today that difference is non-existent
We have some of the brightest kids in the world in our best schools
But outside of the top 2-3 dozen colleges, quality is highly variable - we get wheat mixed with chaff in every college
None, I'd venture.
Because both entrance exams and board exams lose their discriminating power in that range
Not all mediocre people are the same.
Some are less mediocre than others.
And that discrimination is necessary for a society to work well
Because test scores are hopeless at discriminatng P75 from P45
But hey...there is no way to figure out "merit" in the Indian set-up, where the exams do a good job of identifying the top 1%, but are hopeless at ranking the rest
No wonder some people see affirmative action as the solution. Some employers may subconsciously use nepotism for hiring, as "references" may be a stronger indicator of merit than scores