Summary of the Core Content
This news report exposes the extreme cruelty of India’s college entrance examination system: from the scandal of parents in Bihar state climbing walls to pass notes to their children, to the “hellish difficulty” and extremely low acceptance rates of exams such as JEE (for engineering) and NEET (for medicine) under the dual-track system, to the harsh living conditions and student suicide crisis in Kota’s cram schools. Behind all this lies a deep-seated contradiction between the severe imbalance of educational resources and the distorted prosperity of the college entrance examination industry. The exam has become the only “narrow gate” for ordinary families to achieve social mobility, yet it also traps countless students in a cycle of stress and despair.
Detailed Analysis
1. The Dual-Track College Entrance Examination: Two Narrow Gates to Destiny
India does not have a national college entrance examination. Students first must pass the high school graduation exam at the state level to obtain an entry ticket, after which they choose their specialized exams—JEE (for engineering) and NEET (for medicine) being the most competitive routes, as they lead to India’s top institutions of higher education, such as IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) and medical colleges, which represent the only hope for children from ordinary families to change their fate.
- How difficult is JEE? In 2024, 1.4 million people took the exam, but only 8,900 were admitted to IITs, resulting in an acceptance rate of 0.64% (less than 7 out of 1,000), which is 12 times harder than MIT’s acceptance rate of 7.9%! The exam questions go beyond the scope of what is taught in lower-level university courses; for example, in 2022, JEE included calculus problems that even Chinese students who have studied advanced mathematics found confusing. There were no easy questions, and each question required strong logical reasoning.
- Is NEET even more brutal? Approximately 2.5 million people took the NEET exam in 2025, with only 110,000 medical bachelor’s seats available nationwide, and only 20,000 at public medical colleges (an acceptance rate of less than 2%). Private medical colleges charge tuition fees of up to 8.5 million rupees (unaffordable for most families). The exam requires answering 180 questions in 180 minutes, with a penalty system where one point is deducted for each wrong answer and four points for each correct one—making it risky even to guess.
2. The Negative Point System: Guessing Answers Becomes a Risk
India’s college entrance examination’s negative point system is particularly inhumane: correct answers earn 4 points, while wrong ones result in a deduction of 1 point, and unanswered questions earn 0 points. This completely eliminates the possibility of guessing correctly. For example, if you randomly guess four questions, you might get 4 points for one correct answer and lose 3 points for three wrong ones, leaving you with only 1 point—worse than leaving them unanswered.
- JEE Advanced is even worse: In this section, choosing the wrong option on a multiple-choice question results in a deduction of 2 points, and selecting fewer options than required earns only partial credit. This leads to candidates preferring to leave questions unanswered out of fear of making mistakes. A survey by the Indian Psychological Society found that 68% of candidates suffer from severe anxiety, and 32% avoid answering questions they are somewhat confident about due to the penalty system. Some candidates joke that even the last candidate might not hand in a blank paper, as someone could potentially get a negative score by guessing.
3. Kota: The “College Entrance Examination Camp” for 400,000 Students and the “City of Suicides”
The small town of Kota in Rajasthan state, with a population of just 400,000, is considered a holy land for India’s college entrance examinations. Every year, 200,000 students flock to its 150 cram schools, where they live a “military-like” lifestyle:
- Strict Daily Routines: They wake up at 6 AM, go to bed at 11 PM, and study for 15 hours, with only half a day off on Sundays and one full day off per month. Classes consist of 100–200 students, and teachers use microphones to lecture while students focus on practicing problems.
- The Pressure of Rankings: Cram schools regularly conduct mock exams, and rankings are posted on bulletin boards; underperforming students are called for talks. In 2024, 32 students in Kota committed suicide, 28 of them were JEE/NEET candidates, at an average of 2–3 per month. Their letters left behind often mention “too much pressure,” “sorry for parents,” and “no future.” The Indian Human Rights Commission reports that the suicide rate among Kota candidates is more than three times the national average.
4. The Root Causes: Imbalance in Educational Resources and a Vicious Cycle
The high competitiveness of India’s college entrance examination stems from a severe imbalance in educational resources:
- Lack of Top Institutions: A few elite institutions like IITs and AIIMS (top medical colleges) have world-class facilities, but there are very few spots. Most public schools lack textbooks, classrooms, and sufficient teachers. Although the government requires these institutions to admit underprivileged students, corruption and caste discrimination prevent them from benefiting.
- The Distorted College Entrance Examination Industry: Cram schools, online courses, and tutoring materials have created an industry worth 10 billion rupees, accessible only to wealthy families, further exacerbating educational inequality. Students focus on test-taking skills rather than innovation and overall development, leading to a cycle of increasing competition.
5. The Cheating Scandal: Extreme Behaviors under Pressure
The cheating incident mentioned at the beginning is a reflection of the exam’s pressure. With 1.4 million candidates competing, parents will go to extreme lengths such as climbing walls to pass notes or throwing answer papers from buildings. Ultimately, 750 candidates were expelled, and over 900 were arrested. This is not just a matter of morality but also a systemic issue: when the college entrance examination is the sole path to social mobility, people will risk anything to succeed.
Conclusion
The cruelty of India’s college entrance examination lies not in its difficulty but in the system design that allows only a few to pass. The scarcity of top institutions and the uneven distribution of educational resources leave countless students struggling under immense pressure, with some even sacrificing their lives. To change this situation, what is needed is not more difficult exams but a fairer allocation of educational resources and a more reasonable admissions system that gives every child a chance, rather than forcing them to compete through a single, narrow gate.