Thanks CJP. Suddenly There is Hope - How to use tech in selection not just exams

The idea of centralised exams has always baffled me. Do they really measure merrit or test for understanding? To me the answer has obviously been a No.

For recruitment and placement, they seem like a claim on a food package - "Untouched by hands". It is absurdly simplistic to even imagine that this makes the system fair. It would be hard to even prove that the results are even fairer than ANY system. Consider the example of the elitist Ivy League universities - they give preference to children of alumni, children of large donors, children of highly influential people. The system may be blamed for providing unfair advantage to some but never that the system itself is unfair. In fact, it might be argued that this system provides an opportunity for people from my class to make contacts that can provide opportunities, which may otherwise be hard to come by in our capitalistic society.   

Our problem is different in that there are so many aspirants and so few opportunities. Hence, the first recognition has to be that far too many people who could be admitted will not be. In NEET, we are talking not of the elite institutions but all. We need to accept that the results of an exam are a lottery. They may be a test of competence but not an absolute one. The results will vary with the exam. The results may even vary depending upon when or where the exams are held.. This is true even if there is no leakage!

Solution:

1. Accept uncertainty in the merit list. Perfect list is impossible.
2. Do  not take one exam as the only one to determine a list
3. Choose as many criterion as you believe are useful even if the value assigned is hard to quantify. E.g. to be a doctor, I would like to know if a candidate is 'empathetic'.  
4.  Assign weightages to each category based on social need and values. These weightages may be changed. In fact, each institution could be free to select its own weightages.
5. Finally, DO NOT create an ordered list. 
6. So, far all the above are determined by HUMANS. Now technology can be used to compute a consolidated score for each. 
7. The consolidtaed score is a probability weight, which can be used by the system to create the selected list.
8. In fact as many customised lists can be created as there are institutions based on the weightages for that instituion. 
9. It is easy for a student to apply on one site and specify the preferences for the  institutions.
10. A side benefit - fixed quotas for various categories could  be replaced by weightages and the stigma of being from a quota removed. 
11. How about adding a negative weight for those attending tution factories 😁 or a positive one for those who haven't! 

My earnest hope is that the system will leave out so many children of the priveleged society that there will be an accelerated development of more institutions of learning and the improvement and expansion of the existing ones. 

 

 

Bad Planning or an Indifference to People?

 I have had to travel through Porvorim more often than I would have liked. Each time I am struck by the chaos and wondering does it have to be this way.

Do we plan for the fastest completion time or as fast as possible while minimizing the inconvenience during construction? 

Do we even consider the inconvenience and implicit costs caused by the chaos during construction?

Does the planning even include the impact on the people who need to use these roads and have no alternate option during the construction? I think we are invisible to the planners. Just a group to be tolerated while a great and bright future opens up to us.

I am certain that after the flyover is completed, I will again be able to reach the Dabolim airport from Mapusa in 50 minutes, like I used to do when I moved to Goa 25 years ago.

Meanwhile I crave for a future paradise where I can walk without fear or looking over my shoulder keeping track of traffic behind me. Travel by  public transport and not have to worry about where to park.

Oh, well. If I had money, I could have moved to Europe.... 

 

The Age of Sanyas, the trivial hope of fixing an issue with EPS and how to live a worthwhile life after rejecting Sanyas

 I certainly have no plans for a sanyas or leaving for the Himalayas! 

Yet a couple of days before the d-day, I could sense a heaviness in the head which lasts even a day after. Since I am indifferent to religion, it has to be the social importance of turning 75.

I have no plans to change the course my life but a fogginess in the head persists.

I wanted to have a cozy house in a quiet area - started just before Covid, which delayed it. But we are now in it for the last two years. I am finally installing solar panels - not for economic reasons and not even to save the planet as we continue to consume and pollute more. 

It is more for the selfish reason of being off-grid in case of grid collapses. If California can now experience them, Goa is of course an easy and likely victim. Hence, it again doesn't give me happiness of doing something useful.

We also were able to dispose parental property on our terms of no cash, in spite of advice that we are losing money and paying more tax. Again it was for the selfish motive of peace of mind. I have no expectation that it will make any dent in the economics of sale of properties.

My investments are passive and not requiring much effort except occasional reorganisation of funds to minimize risk. A necessity in light of the absurd pension I get for Employee Pension Scheme.

I do need to continue to fight the EPFO - not for my pension but in the hope to help others less literate facing the same issue. In shifting my pension from Chandigarh to Goa, my date of birth has been incorrectly entered. The digital life certificate is rejected as the date of birth on the Aadhaar card does not match the record of the employee pension scheme. Their solution defies reasonableness - provide a certificate from the bank each year as they inform me verbally that they can't change the date in their records. I wonder how they will deal with my death certificate! I keep hoping that my occasional pestering will result in some internal escalation and fixing my birthdate. 

I can recommend to them that if they can't change the field, create another field the database 'Legal Birth Date' and use that instead. I doubt if they will listen. Even if I succeed, I can at best feel a tiny and momentary sense of achievement even after the age of sanyas.

The satisfaction from this achievement, if at all it happens, is hardly enough to clear the mental fog.

Grandchildren are also too old to be needing or wanting our advice or input. 

I am trying to convince myself that it is not being 75 years old, but I need to find something to work on which keeps me occupied and in principle could be useful even if it is never actually used.

So, time to meditate on what next!

 

Why I wish I could be Superman

 As I started to cross the road, I noticed that a car had speeded up. I wished I had been Superman. I would have fearlessly crossed the road and enjoyed watching the car get crushed.

Instead, I waited  and waited. And waited but lived to tell the tale.

Random walk and thoughts around cars parked on the sidewalks and roads where there are no usable sidewalk

 As I walk past and around cars parked on the sidewalk and the road in front of houses, I find it ironic that the very people who feel entitled to use the public space for their private comfort are horrified at the thought of homeless people using the same type of space for their shelter.

My thoughts of irony are disturbed by a car which wants me to move aside so that it can drive on the road.

About time: replace nepotism by luck in recruitment - nothing else can be fairer

 The concept of finding the best candidates for a routine job would be fodder for The Onion were it not so impactful in its hypocrisy. 

If there are over a hundred qualified candidates for a job(or an educational program), we might as well accept and institutionalize the role  of luck in life.

Definitely have a test or a  process to shortlist the candidates meeting the minimum requirements. 

The test does not have to be secure and no-one need bother if someone cheated.

The next step is  to select the required number of candidates randomly.

The selected candidates must reappear for the qualification test in person to  ensure that they had not cheated and had not been impersonated. 

If any fail, replace them randomly from the shortlist of  candidates.

The whole process can be fast, inexpensive and as fair as the luck of  living allows.

Living Wage, Inflation and Guaranteed Minimum Income

Suppose we want less traffic on the roads:

We could reduce the need for private cars if the taxi drivers were paid a guaranteed basic income so people use taxis instead.

The concept can easily  be expanded to shared taxis, mini-buses and any other type of public transport.

It is easier to sell the idea if it is not treated as a subsidy but as a saving on needless infrastructure of roads - which also frees a lot space which could be better used for various public purposes.

We also want a comfortable society.

I am not comfortable when I see people struggling to survive. I cope with it by avoidance. There is nothing I can do as an individual that will help.  Donating or giving to charity makes me feel even worse.

I would love to see a living wage implemented even in India. 

We want to see a brighter future. We need peace and a low inflation.

If the wages of the workers in supermarkets, coffee shops, Udipi's,  child care centers, house hold workers, etc. are to be living wages, then the prices will increase.

Suppose instead each of these persons gets a minimum income. How much do they need to be paid? 

Depending on the nature of the work, we may actually be able to lower the prices. I can imagine a person having to clean toilets having to be paid even more than now while a child care worker may well even volunteer for just the pleasure of being surrounded by little children - esp grandparents whose children live far away :)

I wonder what has happened to minimum income programs for the common good -

"Barack Obama, in a reflective speech in South Africa, mused that basic income would figure prominently in the years ahead, and prominent corporate folk endorsed it again, including Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk."

This was in 2019. I hope the support of Elon Musk still holds. At least it did in 2021 as well.