Aims and roles of higher education – UGC NET Question

The question asks for the wrong statements about the aims of higher education. Statements A and C are clearly correct: higher education is meant to create and spread knowledge and to contribute to national development by preparing skilled, informed citizens. Statement B is wrong because higher education is expected to nurture critical thinking, democratic values and responsible citizenship. Statement D is wrong because employment is an important but not the sole purpose of higher education. Therefore, the combination that includes both B and D, and excludes A and C, is the correct answer.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because it suggests that only B is wrong. While B is indeed a wrong statement, D is also incorrect in reducing higher education to a single purpose of employment. By not including D, this option does not capture all the wrong statements.

Option B:
Option B is incorrect because it identifies only D as wrong and ignores B. This disregards the essential role of higher education in developing critical and democratic dispositions, which makes B clearly wrong as well. Therefore, this partial identification makes the option invalid.

Option C:
Option C is correct because it recognises that both B and D are misaligned with the broader aims of higher education. It appropriately treats A and C as correct and isolates B and D as statements that distort or narrow the role of higher education.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because it treats all four statements as wrong, which would deny the knowledge-creation role in A and the national-development role in C. Since A and C are correct, this option overgeneralises and cannot be accepted.