Image © ETS GRE. The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) date back to 1936 when it was established by Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching (CFAT) before being acquired by Educational Testing Service (ETS). It was initiated as a joint experiment in higher education by the graduate school deans of four Ivy League universities and the CFAT. The first universities to experiment with the test on their students were Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University and Columbia University.
The University of Wisconsin was the first public university to ask their students to take the test in 1938. It was first given to students at the University of Iowa in 1940 where it was analyzed by psychologist Dewey Stuit. It was first taken by students at Texas Tech University in 1942. In 1943, it was taken by students at Michigan State University, where it was analyzed by Paul Dressel. It was taken by over 45,000 students applying to 500 colleges in 1948. Until the ETS was established in January 1948, the GRE remained a project of the CFAT.
Nowadays, GRE is a standardized test that is part of the admissions process for many graduate schools in United States and Canada and a few other countries. According to ETS, the GRE is aimed to measure verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, analytical writing, and critical thinking skills that have been acquired over a long period of learning. The content of the GRE consists of certain specific data analysis or interpretation, arguments and reasoning, algebra, geometry, arithmetic, and vocabulary sections. In graduate school admission’s process, the level of emphasis that is placed upon GRE scores varies widely among schools and departments. The importance of a GRE score can range from being a mere admission formality to an important selection factor. Once almost universally required for admission to Ph.D. science programs in the United States, its use for that purpose has fallen precipitously.
The dilemma with Indian applicants for graduate study differs completely. Indian education system is built completely different. The school education system for language learning spans from reading and writing skills to disdaining listening and speaking components. Despite the Indian education system being completely taught in English language especially in CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Examination) and ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education), the verbal reasoning skills that specifically includes vocabulary component remains adjourned for life until ambitiously one decides to graduate with a foreign degree via., a master’s degree or doctoral degree.
This is just not limited to English language learning, but other language learning curves are too congruent with it. Languages such as Sanskrit, Hindi, German, Spanish and French are some of the other languages that find themselves in similitude. All of them are without the verbal reasoning component ever to be presented to students.
The first real world experience of English language comes in IX standard (class/grade) when students start to find themselves in real pressure to learn and learning to perform for achieving maximum marks in All India Secondary School Examination (AISSE) conducted by CBSE for Class X students. The evaluation is merely based on the reading and writing components while the listening and speaking components, as usual, disdained with no recognition to verbal reasoning.
[CBSE is used as an example. There is no backlash to/for/on CBSE. The Indian education system is heterogenous in nature with different central and state boards of examination. No organization or institution or any other body is subjected to questions or any sort of criticism here. The aim is to address an observed situation and recommend policy level resolutions for it.]
I discern the proportionality of English language learning in class XII too. Moreover, the English as a subject is not the prime focus of the students in class XI and XII. The objective shift towards concentrating highly on stream-based subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology – for students opting science stream – and Accountancy, Business Studies, Economics, Mathematics – for commerce stream students.
The students in India have not been able to recognize the high importance of language learning, be it any language. One only realizes until it is too late for him/her and that comes when the candidates are asked for mandatory language testing scores and that happens through IELTS (International English Language Testing System), GRE, TOEFL (Testing of English as a Foreign Language) examinations. Otherwise, these language subjects are mere scoring opportunity to better their percentage in All India Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (AISSCE) conducted by the CBSE for Class XII students.
India is a land of greatest and maintaining our greatest is the biggest task we have always faced. In such a situation, our system requires serious reconsiderations on such language skills where we clearly deviate from the path of excellence.
India needs to revive the forgotten respect and importance of learning languages inclusive of languages such as English, French, German, Spanish, Russian which in contemporary world through global interconnectedness and globalization stands as the global medium to communicate. Here, India and its people need to unite and come forward to let the world know the importance of Indian languages especially Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi, Maithili, Marathi, and Bengali. [Personal list of recommendation]1
1Hindi is the standardized variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is considered the Sanskritised register of Hindustani language (Article 351 of the Constitution of India). Hindustani itself developed from Old Hindi, known as Khariboli, and was spoken in Delhi and neighboring areas. It incorporated a significant number of Persian (a.k.a. Farsi) loanwords.
India clearly needs language testing system for its own indigenous languages with rigorous testing of all components (reading, writing, speaking, listening and verbal reasoning). Stringent grading system should be introduced and moreover, calls for fair but sternest evaluation system set for everyone. This should be a standardized test mandatory for all throughout the country.
India needs to reconsider the vision of its Former President His Excellency Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam where he voiced for creating a more inclusive language ecosystem through a common language for atleast scientific research and dissemination. He, also, advocated for promoting science in local languages to make it accessible to a wider audience. He frequently promoted economics as a scientific discipline for bettering the social and welfare of the people.
We need to realize that our secondary and senior secondary language learning system requires remodeling and all components of the language needs to be focused and evaluated equally. A well-structured action plan needs to be brought in place that brings coherence to learning the language. India needs to bring their indigenous languages to the world stage and that can only happen by remodeling at the grassroot level. The visibility of the impact that would be brought in by this change is a matter of keeping patience, as these systematic redesigning yields stability and high-end productivity rate in distant future only.
The objective through this article is about bringing awareness and upgrading the current situation in time. Questions such as the quality of teachers, intellectual prowess of the language based teachers, and importantly, the awareness of the teachers to the current situations can be put forward to understand the gravity of the time lost in the life of a student which eventually kept him behind and away from the opportunity to enhance and enrich his/her own language based skills.
This is just not about verbal reasoning skills. It extends to all components of language learning. Our writing skills that is part of the language learning curriculum is not beyond good. Simply because we know what are writing skills, but we don’t know how to write and what to write. Nobody tells us the structure of the writing and importance of each section and sub-section in the writing. For GRE, ‘analyzing the issue’ is the analytical form of the writing and it is generally expected to be written in a structured form with support in the form of examples and also, a counterpoint (concession paragraph) to form the completeness in the writing part. This is generally expected to be structured in the hook form of writing essay.
I have tried to bring out the current situation at the grassroot level and the amendments required through careful reconsideration of the policy leading to only futuristic progressive growth of the individual and further leading to strengthening the greatness of our country, INDIA.
References
Katie Langin, 2022, “GRExit gains momentum as Ph.D. programs drop exam requirement”. Science. 20 November 2022. Retrieved 07 June 2025.
Langin, K., 2022, “Pandemic accelerates ‘GRExit’”, Science, 378(6623). Pp. 936-937.
DISCLAIMER
This article is not about language policy in India or otherwise. The author is multilingual and has different proficiencies in multiple major and local languages both of the world and the country. It is not to be confused with any language policy of any country on the planet Earth or any third world country for any matter. Any other interpretation whatsoever is solely the understanding of the readers, and the author bears no responsibility for it. The article is an opinion based editorial commentary and reflects only personal research-based findings and observations.
Naman Jain 