Education Policy and Sociology

The Government usually tries to provide financial support to students seeking postgraduate degrees in areas of study seemed important to the National economy. However, one area of study has been under-funded for too long. On average, each Battle Tank purchased by the Government is bought at the expense of Postgraduate Studies in engineering programs for 250 students. Moreover, in the last three decades the number of postgraduate degrees in engineering awarded each year, has dwindled from 20,000 to only 10,000. Nevertheless, national grants to post graduate students of engineering have remained at ridiculously low levels. In fact, some colleges and universities grant more money to engineering students than does the national government.

Which of the following best expresses the main point of the argument?

Numerous studies have indicated that the quality of education imparted in state universities is not uniform. Students are much more likely to receive a higher quality education in some universities than they will in others. Since the universities in the studies had approximately equal funding per student, discrepancies in the quality of education are probably a result of differences in the teaching ability of the faculty members.

Which one of the following, if true, constitutes the strongest criticism of the argument above?

More and more people are now sending their daughters to schools. This shows that

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.

Men and women are the two wheels of society. If one of the two falls defective, the society cannot make progress. Hence, we need education for females, same as we need it for the males. Female education is highly necessary for the society. Females are the first teachers of the future citizens of the country. If the mothers are ignorant, they cannot take proper care of the children. They cannot infuse good qualities in them. Hence, the very foundation of our people will remain weak. If the females are ignorant, we will lose the services of a powerful part of our society.

Studies show that forty percent of all students aged seventeen to twenty-five are residing outside their home districts in any given month. On the basis of these studies, a researcher concluded that sixty percent of all students aged seventeen to twenty-five are residents of their home districts year-round. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the researcher’s conclusion?

An administrative decree requiring schools in rural areas to offer students leave of absence to help share their family’s burden of intensive farming work will harm the educational competitiveness of our nation’s rural students. Schools must be free to set their own leave & vacation policies without mandated leave of absence regulations. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion of the argument above?

Directions: From the below given alternative summaries, choose the one that best presents the essence of the text.

In India, we need profound systemic changes in our method of education. Currently, the system pigeonholes individuals into a narrow range of disciplines and straitjackets them into rigid career tracks. Given the overwhelming emphasis on grades, creativity and independent thinking end up taking a back seat. So how can we expect the spirit of curiosity and inquiry to develop in such a pressure cooker? The need of the hour is an education system that fosters exploration, questioning and debate. A system that can help each student to pursue a path that best stimulates individual creativity and challenges him or her. The objective should be to create citizens who have the ability to think laterally: Students who are equipped to step out into the real world and become thought leaders, rather than products of a machine that churns out yet another commodity.

Private suppliers of education are performing far better than government ones. But Amartya Sen argues for banning private tuitions and non-government schools and states that banning private schools will improve government schools in the long run. Private tuitions must be banned because they give the rich an edge, hence making the poor suffer. If we want to see our government schools in a better shape; we simply need to adhere to Sen's suggestions.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the author's argument for banning private tuitions?

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows. Public education suffers from what can be diagnosed as the sickness of an over governed society. This sickness denies many parents control over the kind of education their children receive. The power once held by parents has gravitated to professional educators. The sickness has been aggravated by increasing centralization and bureaucratization of schools.

Which of the following, if true, would weaken the claim that there is continuing erosion of parents' control over their children's education?

Directions: The following passage is followed by a question with five options. Choose the best option.

A study published by the Department of Education shows that children in the central parts of cities lag far behind students in the suburbs and the rural areas, in reading skills. The report blamed this differential on the overcrowding in the classrooms of city schools. I maintain, however, that the real reason that city children are poorer readers than non-city children is that they do not get enough fresh air and sunshine.

Which of the following would LEAST strengthen the author's point in the argument above?