Members of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Education on Wednesday recommended major changes in the current examination system in view of the NEET-UG paper leak controversy. The committee has also demanded that the National Testing Agency (NTA) be given statutory status. During the meeting, the committee also appreciated the successful conduct of NEET-UG re-examination related to medical admission.
However, the committee members expressed concern over the NEET-UG examination being conducted through the Computer Based Test (CBT) system from next year and said that the interests of the deprived sections of the society should be kept in mind in this regard. In-depth discussions were held with NTA officials in the meeting of the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports.
What did the committee recommend?
The parliamentary committee has recommended major changes in the examination system in view of the NEET-UG paper leak. According to sources, the committee suggests that first, the examination should be conducted in more than one phase instead of one. Second, the examination should be paperless. Computer should be used for this. Third, the examination should be conducted in several shifts on the lines of JEE Main.
In some other recommendations of the committee, it was also said that separate entrance examinations should be conducted. The committee members suggested that there should be separate entrance examinations for MBBS, AYUSH and Nursing courses instead of a single examination. Apart from this, more powers should be given to the National Testing Agency (NTA). Emphasis has also been laid on improving the functioning of the agency and giving it legal status to prevent fraud. Another suggestion talked about the use of AI. It has been advised to use AI and modern technologies in the examination process.
Meeting called under the leadership of Wasnik
Earlier, the chairman of the high level committee formed by the government to give suggestions for improving the examination system and former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) R. Radhakrishnan discussed the steps taken for NEET re-examination before the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports.
NTA Director General Abhishek Singh and Higher Education Department Secretary Vineet Joshi also appeared before the parliamentary committee and discussed the experiences gained from the NEET re-examination held on June 21. The committee headed by Congress MP Mukul Wasnik had summoned the officials to discuss the lessons learned from the NEET-UG re-examination, measures to strengthen the NTA and necessary reforms.
This was the first meeting of the parliamentary committee under the chairmanship of Wasnik. Earlier, Digvijay Singh of Congress was the chairman of the committee, whose tenure as Rajya Sabha member ended on June 21. The parliamentary committee reviewed the conduct of NEET-UG re-examination and Abhishek Singh informed the members about the examination process and its results.
So how will the exams be conducted next year?
According to sources, the committee members asked the officials how NTA would conduct such a large-scale examination on its own next year, whereas successful conduct of the re-examination was possible only when the entire government machinery was active. On this the members said that everyone from the Prime Minister to the junior officers were involved in organizing this examination.
According to sources, the MPs suggested that NTA be given more powers to conduct such a large-scale examination independently and the agency be given statutory status. NTA was established by the Ministry of Education as an independent, autonomous and self-reliant premier examination organization under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
The committee members also expressed concern over many candidates being deprived of the examination due to late arrival at the examination centres. He requested the NTA to take steps to help such candidates and said that he was worried after seeing videos of distressed candidates left outside the center due to arriving late.
With NTA now deciding to conduct the NEET exam in a computer-based format, the members said that the interests of the deprived sections should be kept in mind as some of them may not have access to computers.
Radhakrishnan Committee’s recommendations are being implemented
Earlier, top officials informed the committee about the successful conduct of NEET re-examination held on June 21 and various steps taken for it. The committee congratulated him for his efforts. During this, some MPs also asked why separate examinations are not conducted for nursing and other courses to reduce the number of candidates.
Radhakrishnan told the committee that the recommendations given by him were being implemented in a phased manner. However, no information was given regarding the timeline for implementing these recommendations. Sources said that some members also asked whether such examinations could be conducted in a phased manner on the lines of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
The NEET-UG examination held on 3rd May was canceled by the government after the news of paper leak and re-examination was conducted on 21st June. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is investigating the NEET paper leak case.
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