Test of knowledge or memorizing
Overview
Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) conducts theory exams for multiple types of license programs including Pilot, Aircraft Maintenance Engineer and more. These exams are conducted online at designated centres as per schedule. Process of registering for these exams is not easy and requires multiple documents to ascertain identity and qualification verification.
Exhaustiveness
The standard of DGCA exams is as per the international standards and a candidate attempting the paper needs to be thorough with the concepts. Strong preparation is required to pass these exams. Also, qualifying percentage is 70 that makes the preparation challenging. Exams include multiple subjects to be read from range of books.
Result Analysis
DGCA conducted 7185 exams in one of the license exams in 2023. Only 43% of them cleared the papers. The same pattern is observed in most of the exams conducted by DGCA. Less than 50% candidates pass the paper. However, it is unclear how many of the passing candidates actually pass through conceptual study.
Concerns over Exams
There are concerns over DGCA exam questions regarding refresh rate of questions. In many of the countries, 20% of question pool changes each year resulting in a continuous revision of questions. Also, many training institutes encourage students to memorize question and answers of relevance then making them understand the concept.
In past, allegations have been raised on DGCA officials for paper leaks and investigations have been done. DGCA has taken course correction from past misses. However, it looks like that now the test focuses more on failing candidates then checking knowledge. Less than 50% pass rate for an exam that is not a qualifying exam. Exams conducted by DGCA should encourage hunger for understanding rather than motivation for memorizing.
Improvement is a continuous process and DGCA has to cope with the changing needs.
Paper leaks
While it is not uncommon to have lapses on part of regulatory bodies. DGCA has to ensure fair practices. It is fortunate that exams conducted by them are not an entrance exam rather a knowledge test for relevant subjects. It’s not a process of rejection rather a celebration of know how.
Implementation of computer-based exams ensure a fair practice up to large extent. However, there are significant number of questions that need rectification or out of syllabus for relevant exam. Quality check is something DGCA has to work a lot. Its own team may not be able to handle this task entirely. Collaborative approach to set up new standards in civil aviation knowledge checks should be the objective.
There are no reported instances of paper leaks in recent past by DGCA. However, in the present time, students and their parents are losing trust in exams conducted by government agencies. DGCA may have to assure fair practices and transparency in its exams.
Happy Landings!