Journalism of Courage
A big change for NEET-UG entrance exam in planning: Centre to Supreme Court
The government said this in an affidavit filed Monday before the top court which is hearing petitions on the need for reforms in the National Testing Agency (NTA) framework to prevent question paper leaks.
The Court will take up the matter on August 6. (Express Photo by Deepak Joshi)
The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that the authorities concerned are considering whether the NEET (UG) examination for medical courses should be held in a single-stage or in two stages on the pattern of the JEE for engineering courses.
The government said this in an affidavit filed Monday before the top court which is hearing petitions on the need for reforms in the National Testing Agency (NTA) framework to prevent question paper leaks.
The affidavit, which outlined the security protocol associated with the conduct of the NEET (UG) exam, said “in respect of NEET (UG), the migration from the Pen-and-Paper mode to a Computer-Based mode, whether in a single-stage or a two-stage examination on the pattern of the Joint Entrance Examination (Mains and Advanced), is presently under active consideration by all stakeholders”.
The Centre said “the final approach will be adopted after considering, and with the benefit of, the recommendations of the High-Powered Task Force under the chairmanship of Shri Nandan Nilekani” constituted recently.
It said “the composition of the Task Force, with domain expertise drawn from technology, space, intelligence, academia and public administration, ensures a rigorous and holistic examination of the technological, security, equity, infrastructure and pedagogic dimensions of the transition”.
Explained
Exam reforms, tougher laws
The task force on exam reforms, headed by Nandan Nilekani, was announced by the PM a day after students called off their protest over paper leaks. The government has also established fast-track courts and brought in a tougher law to deal with those behind the leaks.
The Centre pointed out that the NTA “has, in the recent past, migrated seven of its eight major examinations to Computer-Based Testing, with a multi-session, multi-day schedule. These include JEE (Main), CUET (UG), CUET (PG), UGC-NET and CSIR-NET” and “NEET (UG) presently remains the only major examination of the National Testing Agency that is conducted in the Pen-and-Paper mode”.
The affidavit said “it is imperative to point out that NEET (UG) is a sui generis examination on account of a multitude of factors including its scale, spread, spectrum of candidates, the wide and diverse spectrum of options contingent on the rank upon passing (ranging from MBBS, Dental, Ayush, Veterinary, Nursing) and the fee structure. There are over 22 lakhs registered candidates, with a majority of rural candidates and majority of women candidates. The figures and statistics of the NEET (UG) examination reflect its one-of-a-kind status”.
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The Centre said “in view of the fact that NEET (UG) is conducted on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which acts as the Test Indenting Agency, and that the National Medical Commission is the apex regulator, any structural change in the design of NEET (UG) will be undertaken only in structured consultation and concurrence of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the National Medical Commission, under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019”.
The Centre said it “also remains committed to providing candidates with adequate advance notice of any change in the mode or design of the examination, so that any transition may be smooth, equitable and free of avoidable stress to the candidates”.
The Court will take up the matter on August 6.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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