Read the following statement and proposed courses of action carefully, and then decide which of the courses of action logically follows, assuming the statement is completely true. Statement: A large number of students who have passed their XII standard terminal examination in the country could not get admission to colleges because the number of available seats is grossly inadequate. Courses of action: a. The evaluation system of the XII standard terminal examination should be made more tough so that fewer students pass the examination. b. The government should encourage the private sector to open new colleges by providing them land at cheaper rates. c. Rich people should be asked to send their children to foreign countries for higher studies so that needy students can get admission in colleges within the country.

Introduction / Context:
This question presents a serious educational problem: many students who have passed the XII standard examination are unable to secure college admission because of inadequate seats. The objective is to test your judgment regarding which proposed courses of action are fair, practical, and directly address the root cause. You must carefully evaluate whether each suggested step is justified by the situation described.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• A large number of students have passed the XII standard terminal examination.
• The number of college seats is much lower than the number of eligible students.
• Because of this mismatch, many qualified students cannot get admission.
• The government can influence education policy and may involve the private sector.
• Some families are rich enough to send their children abroad, while others are not.

Concept / Approach:
For course of action questions:

• A valid course of action should attempt to solve or reduce the problem.
• It should be fair, ethical, and system oriented rather than discriminatory.
• It must not create a worse injustice than the one it is trying to solve.

The core cause here is inadequate college capacity, not the number of deserving students.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Evaluate course of action a. Making the XII standard evaluation system more tough so that fewer students pass is a way of artificially reducing the number of qualified candidates. This punishes students by restricting opportunity instead of expanding educational infrastructure. It does not address the real issue of limited seats and is therefore not a logical solution. Step 2: Evaluate course of action b. Encouraging the private sector to open new colleges by providing land at cheaper rates directly tackles the core issue: insufficient seats. Increasing the number of colleges and thus seats is a practical, system level response. Therefore, b logically follows. Step 3: Evaluate course of action c. Asking rich people to send their children abroad is discriminatory and unrealistic. It assumes that all rich families will agree and that foreign education capacity is unlimited. It also shifts responsibility away from the government and system. Thus, c does not logically follow. Step 4: Combine the evaluations. Only course of action b properly addresses the problem in a fair and practical manner. Hence, the correct choice is the option that mentions only b.

Verification / Alternative check:
Imagine the situation after implementing each course. If a is implemented, fewer students pass, but this simply hides the capacity problem rather than solving it. If c is implemented, only a small fraction of rich students might go abroad, leaving the basic mismatch unchanged. If b is implemented, capacity is increased and more qualified students get a chance to study. Clearly, only b provides a structural and just solution, confirming our earlier conclusion.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• Only a and b follow: This incorrectly includes a, which is unfair and does not deal with the root cause.
• Only c follows: This ignores the main structural issue and is socially biased.
• All a, b and c follow: This wrongly treats all three as acceptable, even though a and c are not justified.

Common Pitfalls:
A frequent mistake is to think that limiting the number of pass candidates (as in a) is an easy way to balance demand and supply. However, in reasoning questions and in real policy, artificial restriction of success is not a sound approach. Another pitfall is to accept socially biased solutions like c because they seem to reduce pressure, but they are neither equitable nor systemic. Always focus on actions that genuinely improve the situation for the system as a whole.

Final Answer:
Only b follows.