Editorial: NEET and untidy

On Friday, the Supreme Court refused to defer the NEET-UG counselling process, scheduled to begin on July 6, reiterating that it is not an ‘open and shut’ exercise. The National Testing Agency (NTA), which has faced flak over lapses in the conduct of NEET-UG and UGC-NET, will now conduct a retest on Sunday for the medical entrance exam (NEET-UG) for as many as 1,563 candidates who were earlier awarded grace marks to make up for the loss of time at six centres. The NEET-UG examination is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.

The Union Education Ministry on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of UGC-NET following inputs of the exam's integrity being compromised. The NEET-UG was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates appeared for it. Even as the results were declared 10 days ahead of schedule, allegations of question paper leaks in states like Bihar, as well as reports of malpractices and irregularities emerged from various parts of the country. As many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA’s history, with six from a centre in Haryana's Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities. It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank.

Two days after the NEET-UG results were declared, four students committed suicide. One might attribute this to the fear of being pitted against insurmountable odds for a handful of seats. This year itself, over 24 lakh students appeared for NEET-UG, competing for 55,648 seats in government colleges; and 50,685 seats in private institutions. Sadly, the NTA, responsible for conducting JEE, NEET-UG, UGC-NET, and CUET, is now being called out for the quality of service providers tasked with building the infrastructure to conduct the exams.

Stakeholders seek structural reforms in the NTA and urge for use of a secure examination design and technology which employs Computer Based Testing (CBT) as well as randomised generation of questions, coupled with adaptive testing methodologies — essentially making the exams cheat-proof, owing to the inability to share answers. The IIT-JEE and the AIIMS exams have been conducted for decades without a hassle. A secure examination environment that extends beyond the test halls vis-a-vis, printing of test papers, as well tamper proof sealing and transportation should be non-negotiables for the NTA.

Here in Tamil Nadu, the DMK's student wing has announced a protest seeking the President's assent for a Tamil Nadu Bill envisaging exemption from NEET for the state. The functionaries pointed out how the exam has prevented students from rural regions/Tamil medium schools, and economically-challenged sections from pursuing medical education, a contravention of Tamil Nadu’s ideals of social justice and equality. It’s a sentiment that has been echoed by the administrations in several states which argued that the exams offer undue advantage to students hailing from the economically plum sections of society.

Most recently, an NCP (SP) leader from Maharashtra spoke about the need for a state-level entrance exam for medical courses which could be considered as an alternative. The bottom line is that the pursuit of the One Nation-One Test mandate should be carried out on the basis of transparency, accountability, and fairness, while ensuring that no one falls through the cracks.