Following the events of last week at Jantar Mantar, India has got a new task force to fix its examination system. But what should the fix look like? Renowned economist, Ajit Ranade shares some lessons from the Chinese experience. “In large, unequal societies, the competitive public examination is a ticket to a better life. It is a promise that birth, wealth, caste, region and connections can be partially neutralized by effort. That is why a leak is a devastating breach of trust.
China’s exam, the gaokao, taken this year by 13.35 million students, is designed centrally and administered by provinces… exam papers moving under GPS tracking and police escort, question-setters being isolated in secure facilities, exam halls using facial recognition and signal jammers, and even AI companies throttling some tools during the exam window.
This machinery reinforces the public belief that advancement is governed by rules rather than influence.”
But he goes beyond the examination system for a better higher education system. Here again, we can learn from the rise of Chinese universities, a result of state policy he argues: “In 2004, no mainland Chinese university appeared in the global top 100 of the Academic Ranking of World Universities. By 2025, Tsinghua and Peking had entered the global top tier, and at least six Chinese universities were in the top 100.
The first lesson for India is sequencing. Our higher education needs a strong foundation of literacy, numeracy and teacher quality at the school level. In China, 9-year compulsory education became universal by 2010, producing a large pool of qualified students for higher education.
The second lesson is concentration. China concentrated its resources on select universities and disciplines through Project 211, Project 985 and later its Double First-Class programme.
…The third lesson is performance-linked autonomy. The funding is tied to outcomes, periodic review and the possibility of demotion. The Double First-Class programme introduced competition in a system where elite status had become a permanent entitlement.
…The fourth lesson is alignment with national priorities. Chinese elite universities were linked to industrial clusters and technology missions. This fed into its strength in critical technologies.
The fifth lesson is curriculum agility. In 2025, China’s ministry of education launched an action plan for adjusting academic disciplines and majors during 2025-27.”
He ends with six things India could do to chart its own course towards a better higher education system: “First, secure exam integrity; without trust, the pyramid collapses. Second, implement examination reform urgently. Third, identify 50-100 universities and disciplines for deep, long-horizon investment.
Fourth, give them autonomy in hiring, curriculum, collaboration and research partnerships. Fifth, connect universities to local economies strengthening decentralization. Sixth, make AI, data and interdisciplinary problem-solving part of every serious degree.”
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