Students vociferously demanded accountability for repeated examination paper leaks, and rightly so. However, entrance examinations are merely the gateway to higher education institutions that are themselves facing deep structural challenges. According to recent data, nearly 38% of faculty positions at the IITs remain vacant. Ad hoc and contractual lecturers are often paid meagre salaries, forcing some to take up additional work simply to support their families. All of this is happening even as institutional fees have risen manifold over the past decade. Despite this, a significant proportion of our graduates remain unemployed. Curricula in many institutions remain outdated, with students often being taught content that has changed little in the last two decades. Meanwhile, research misconduct has reached unprecedented levels. Numerous colleges and universities lack the infrastructure required for state-of-the-art laboratories or even adequate facilities to support quality education.

In such a situation, we must resist the temptation to focus solely on the outcomes — exam scores, rankings, placements, and admissions — and instead scrutinise the processes that produce them. Paper leaks are perhaps the easiest problem to solve. They have already been solved elsewhere. International examinations such as the SAT, TOEFL, and GMAT are conducted routinely and securely at scale. Their models can be studied and adapted. However, our admission process must move away from these unidimensional measures that put undue stress on our students while discouraging creativity, critical thinking, and........

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