18/07/2026
Is Shuffling the Leadership Actually Solving the Crisis?
Let’s Talk About Real Reform. 🚨
We’ve all seen the ongoing Jantar Mantar protests led by the CJP, demanding the resignation of the Education Minister following the massive NEET paper leak scandals. Widespread anger is understandable—but let's be honest with ourselves: Does changing a face at the top actually fix a broken education system?
History says no. Real, drastic change won't come from forcing a minister out. The NEET fiasco happened because our system has turned examinations into hyper-competitive, high-stakes gatekeepers where only a tiny fraction of high-scorers get a seat.
Instead of asking for a new minister, why aren't we demanding a fundamental restructuring of Fee Structures and Admission Criteria across higher education?
The Elitist Divide: A Firsthand Legal Perspective 🏛️
As a lawyer and a student of the law since 2009, I see this exact same gatekeeping crisis playing out in my own field:
The NLU Bias: In the corporate and legal job markets, graduates from National Law Universities (NLUs) are routinely fast-tracked. Non-NLU graduates are forced to work twice as hard just to get their foot in the same door.
The Gatekeeping of Talent: Getting into an NLU is an uphill battle for an average-scoring individual. But does a single standardized test score truly measure a person’s long-term capability to be a brilliant legal mind?
Whether it is NEET for medicine or CLAT for law, the story is identical. We see this exact tier-bias and structural elitism filtering out bright minds across almost every single industry today.
Education Should Be a Right, Not a Privilege 🎓
If education is a fundamental right, our national system should reflect that.
My proposition is simple: Admission to premier institutes—whether NLUs or medical colleges—should be an individual's right to pursue. Even a lower-grading student who wants to learn should have the right to take admission. Whether they pass, fail, or excel should depend entirely on their hard work, grit, and calibre inside the classroom—not an astronomical price tag or a hyper-restrictive entrance exam.
When a system filters out passionate minds based purely on financial capacity and rigid entrance metrics, calling education a "noble cause" becomes a myth.
The Reality of Mainstream Protests 📢
This is exactly why public outcries like the CJP protest miss the mark. Instead of asking the hard, structural questions about extreme competition, affordability, and tier-bias, these platforms are too often used as marketing grounds for individuals to step into the limelight, build personal brands, and advance their own agendas rather than solving society's actual structural problems.
We don't need musical chairs in the ministry. We need an education system that prioritizes the right to learn over the privilege to pay.
What are your thoughts?
