With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made: 1. India continues to be a developing country essentially due to its faulty education system. 2. Today’s learners need to acquire new-age skill-sets. 3. A good number of Indians go to some developed countries for education because the educational systems there are a perfect reflection of the societies in which they function. Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

UPSC CSAT 2018 Q54: With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made: — Answer & Explanation

Passage—6

India’s educational system is modelled on the mass education system that developed in the 19th century in Europe and later spread around the world. The goal of the system is to condition children as ‘good’ citizens and productive workers. This suited the industrial age that needed the constant supply of a compliant workforce with a narrow set of capabilities. Our educational institutes resemble factories with bells, uniforms and batch-processing of learners, designed to get learners to conform. But, from an economic point of view, the environment today is very different. It is a complex, volatile and globally interconnected world.

CSAT 2018 · Q54

Reading comprehension Easy

With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:

1.India continues to be a developing country essentially due to its faulty education system.
2.Today’s learners need to acquire new-age skill-sets.
3.A good number of Indians go to some developed countries for education because the educational systems there are a perfect reflection of the societies in which they function.

Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 2 only

India's schools were built to supply a compliant, narrowly skilled workforce for the industrial age, while today's world is complex, volatile and interconnected. The author must assume learners now need new skills; nothing links education to India's development status or to Indians studying abroad.

✗ 1. The passage never connects the education system to India remaining a developing country; 'essentially due to' is an unsupported causal claim.
✓ 2. Contrasting the industrial age's 'narrow set of capabilities' with today's 'complex, volatile and globally interconnected world' assumes learners need new skills.
✗ 3. Indians studying abroad and systems that 'perfectly reflect' their societies lie outside the passage.

Remember · An assumption bridges the author's premise and point; new causes or facts the passage never touches are not assumptions.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·

With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:

Passage—6

CSAT 2018 · Q54

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