NEW DELHI — Tens of thousands of students demonstrated across New Delhi and major Indian cities, protesting exam failures and chronic job shortages. Their action forced the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday.
The protests erupted after two major examination failures exposed deep dysfunction in India's higher education system. Over two million students who took the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical college admissions had their results voided nine days after they were released due to allegations of a leak. They were forced to retake the highly competitive exam.
Simultaneously, 1.8 million students reported grading discrepancies in the Central Board of Secondary Education's annual examination, blamed on a new digital marking system.
When students marched to parliament to voice their concerns, police met them with violence, escalating anger over the government's handling of the crisis.
The immediate exam failures reflect a broader employment crisis. India produced 63 million college graduates aged 20 to 29 in 2023, nearly double the 32 million from 2011. Yet job growth has not kept pace. Last year, 2.2 million students competed for 126,600 available medical school places. Many candidates spend years preparing for entrance exams for roles as basic as ticket inspectors.
For decades, Indian students accepted the education system as primarily a sorting mechanism. The current generation is rejecting that model, demanding education that guarantees a viable path to employment and economic security.
