India, June 22 -- National testing is actually a very cruel burden imposed on the youth coming out of our schools. Instead of making higher education purposeful, the various tests kill creativity, give weightage to rote learning, and promote both mediocrity and inequality.

As revealed by Rahul Gandhi, the Opposition Leader in the Lok Sabha, the Union Government, through various testing agencies, collects a whopping ?3.5 lakh crore in examination fees from students every year. This is more than the budget allocated for five ministries - Education, Health, Labour, Science and Technology, and Women and Child Development. "This is nothing but a national shame," Rahul Gandhi said.

The various entrance tests have, in practice, become futile ...