This New Year brought with it, a trendy #hashtag on social media, a part of this fast-growing online trend. Like many other internet trends which was a hit among millenials, the‘#10yearschallenge’, is a way to introspect how you have changed, in the past decade.
If we superimpose the same challenge on our education industry to see the transformation, then the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) can be examined, in its 10-year journey from 2008 to 2018.
The Test came into existence in 2008, as a result of the legal challenge against each National Law University conducting its own admissions test. Before CLAT, the various NLUs conducted individual entrance exams, that aspirants had to appear for. Due to difficulties such as clashing dates, overworked students, and so on, the Supreme Court intervened in 2006, with changes to make it easier for the aspiring students.
The 10-year journey
2008: It was historic, in every sense of the word, to have a unified entrance exam for a profession which requires skills such as aptitude and rational thinking. The first CLAT was conducted by NLSIU, Bangalore, and met expectations as far as question types were concerned. However, what baffled some students was the number of questions and differential marking. For example, the GK section had 100 questions worth 0.5 marks each, making the section lengthy, while the legal aptitude section had about 15 questions, with differential marking. This was quite unlike earlier NLSIU papers, in which a lot of emphasis was given to legal reasoning.
2009: CLAT was in the news for all the wrong reasons. The paper was reportedly leaked and consequently, had to be rescheduled. It wasn’t different from the 2008 paper as far as the types and quality of questions were concerned. But, the differential marking scheme was done away with. The paper had 200 questions to be solved in 120 minutes and had a clear division of questions amongst the five sections, with every question carrying one mark.
2010: Many students were caught off-guard, as the test tilted in favour of static general and legal knowledge. The overall difficulty level of the paper, however, didn’t change much as the math and English sections were quite easy.
2011: NUJS, Kolkata, came up with some stellar changes. The English section had only reading comprehension, and the legal aptitude section had some superior reasoning questions. Neither was a single legal knowledge question asked, nor were any static GK questions. The exam pushed the time-management skills of test takers. With the exception of English, it is considered the best CLAT paper, till date, by many.
2012: National Law University, Jodhpur, conducted the CLAT, and the exam was once again marred by several controversies. CLAT takers alleged that some questions were out of the syllabus, and the pattern was entirely different from syllabus given. The main issue was the presence of static general and legal knowledge questions, which were contrary to the information published on the CLAT official website.
2013: Perhaps, to make up for the 2012 fiasco, the 2013 exam experience was ‘smooth sailing’. The biggest challenge was the new rule of deducting 0.25 marks for every wrong answer. Much to the delight of the test takers, there were no legal knowledge questions and the GK section, too, had a healthy mix of static and current affairs questions.
2014: The major surprise was the logical reasoning section, as there were no questions on critical reasoning. The GK section was somewhat easy, with the current affairs questions dominating the section.
2015: Conducted by the Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University (RMLNLU), the Test brought in another major change. It was the first computer-based CLAT, and came with its own anomalies. First, there were many technical issues faced by students. Second, the paper wasn’t on familiar lines. A few questions in the logical reasoning and the quantitative ability sections were shockers. Calls were made to do away with the present system and instead, have a permanent body organise the Common Law Admission Test. The Supreme Court’s final decision is still pending, on this issue.
2016: But all this did not deter RGNLU from conducting an almost ‘seamless’ CLAT, in 2016. It was one of the easiest papers in CLAT history, resulting in significantly higher cut-offs. Only the quantitative aptitude section had a few tricky questions that required intensive calculations.
2017: Organised by Chanakya National Law University at Patna, the Test was largely on expected lines. The pattern of the paper was quite similar to that of 2016, however, some changes stood out. It was a bit more difficult and hence, the cut-off saw some southward direction.
2018: This was a game-changer. The issues in conducting the exam escalated to such a level that the Supreme Court had to set-up a CLAT Secretariat at NLSIU.
The writer is National Product Head – LAW, PRATHAM Education
