The NEET controversy and cancellation of UGC-NET indicate a wider malaise in education requiring urgent remedial measures.

By our correspondent

NEW DELHI- The controversy over the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) for admission of young students into medical colleges and the cancellation of the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) have exposed the irregularities and indicated a wider malaise in Indian education. system. Experts and academics have called for urgent remedial action for the two exams, which are being conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

As opposition parties staged nationwide protests against examination irregularities, the Supreme Court heard a large number of petitions regarding NEET. The central government told the Supreme Court on June 13 that the scorecards of 1,563 candidates who obtained compensatory marks in NEET-2024, held on May 5, would be cancelled. Another test will be held for them on June 23 and the results will be announced before June 30, followed by seat counseling.

Grace points were awarded to these candidates using a standardization formula on the basis that they were not allowed the full 3.2 hours to sit the exam, due to technical issues. Based on a court order, the compensatory marks were awarded to the candidates on the recommendation of a committee constituted by the NTA. There were widespread suspicions that the granting of pardons was arbitrary and opaque.

In addition to the accusations leveled against NEET in court, there have been a large number of allegations going beyond the question paper leak. They included slow distribution of questionnaires, provision of wrong questionnaires, wrong OMR sheets and technical delays. After assessment, complaints were made about the unusually high number of students receiving perfect scores and about students receiving “statistically impossible” grades, while cases of cheating by proxy were also discovered. Other cases related to the question paper leak are yet to be heard by the Supreme Court.

Previously, authorities that conduct NEET have been accused of poor organization and inadequate planning, as well as inconsiderate rules on what candidates are allowed to wear in the exam hall. All these accusations sparked protests from students and political parties across the country. Political parties have demanded a fair probe into the charges against them and called on the government to conduct a fresh NEET exam.

The students had the same request, that of retaking the test, on the grounds that the leak of the question paper had made it easier for some students to obtain the maximum mark or had given them an unfair advantage. Experts and students pointed out that the very idea of ​​launching NEET as a common entrance exam to regulate medical admissions in the country and ensure quality control of the process would be rejected in light of all the violations reported.

In response, the NTA appointed a four-member committee to look into the allegations leveled against the conduct of NEET in 2024. The recommendations of this committee have now also found their way to the court. NTA officials attributed the ease of the paper to the unusual number of full marks this year. The commission found that the compensatory marks awarded to the 1,563 students resulted in an “unbalanced situation”. Grace marks were to be limited to attempted questions only, and although the board did not comment further on the number of marks awarded in compensation, it concluded that it would be best to cancel the test for these students only.

Students and education experts have already expressed their displeasure over the cancellation of the exam only for a few students. They argue that if the exam can be canceled for 1,500 students, this constitutes an admission of error and, therefore, they claim that the logical thing would be to cancel the May 5 exam for all candidates and proceed to a new test. This indicates a failure of the system and a loss of trust, students complained on social media.

Instead of ensuring a level playing field, as a measure to ensure the quality of candidates entering the medical profession, the way NEET is conducted has created several layers of additional privileges. For a test of its size and scope, where more than 23 million students take the test in approximately 4,500 centers across the country, in multiple languages, small problems can arise. However, the test has been around for almost a decade and its initial difficulties are over, while fraud prevention should be the NTA’s top priority.

Many experts believe that NEET is regressive and lacks transparency. It favors the rich at the cost of students from rural areas and marginalized sections of society, while the aim of NEET coaching centers is to plunder and exploit the thirst for medical education. NEET creates a disparity as students from rural areas and those belonging to minority, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities cannot afford to attend classes at coaching centers.

Southern states, like Tamil Nadu, have always opposed NEET for these reasons. Additionally, NTA is not an academic institution and has no expertise in evaluating students. There is no transparency in NTA as it outsources everything related to NEET, experts say.

For the UGC-NET, the Ministry of Education decided to cancel the exam after it was conducted in 317 cities, following reports that the integrity of the test was compromised. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said a high-level committee would be formed to make recommendations on improving the structure and functioning of the NTA, examination process and security protocols.

Clearly, the government must be sensitive to the concerns of the nine million students who appeared for the exam which is the key to finding entry-level teaching jobs in universities and gaining admission to Ph.D. programs. Responsibility for the irregularity which precipitated the cancellation must be established urgently.

The NET is the first centralized exam to be scrapped after the Center introduced a new anti-paper leakage law in February. The investigation could provide crucial lessons in applying the new law to stem a pressing problem that threatens to tarnish the credibility of education and public recruitment systems.

The hyper-competitive nature of the exams highlighted the crisis situation linked to education and employment in the country. Gaps between supply and demand create opportunities for exam riggers and the job mafia. Even as the government investigates the immediate controversies surrounding NEET and NET, it cannot afford to delay the resolution of this long-standing issue.

In its previous term, the NDA government had introduced a bill in Lok Sabha in February 2024 to check malpractices in recruitment exams, such as paper leaks and fake websites, with strict penalties , including a minimum prison term of three years and a fine of up to Rs. 1 billion. At present, there is no specific substantive law to deal with unfair means adopted or offenses committed by various entities involved in the conduct of public examinations by the central government and its agencies.

Amid the raging row over the issue, the central government on June 21 implemented the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, which aims to tackle malpractices and irregularities in competitions. The bill received the President’s assent on February 13, but did not take effect until this week.

The opposition Congress intensified its campaign against irregularities in NEET and held protests in all state headquarters on Friday demanding justice for the students. The party noted that there are concerns about inflated grades and irregularities, and awarding grace grades without disclosing the methodology has raised further doubts. “The exam was marred by technical glitches, malpractices and unfair means in some exam centers. Organized corruption is evident in arrests made in Bihar, Gujarat and Haryana, revealing a pattern of malpractice in BJP-ruled states,” Congress leader KC Venugopal said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also said his party would raise the issue of NEET exam from the streets in Parliament to ensure justice was done to the 24 lakh students who took the exam. Meanwhile, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) demanded the dissolution of the NTA and announced a ‘gherao of Parliament’ on June 24, the first day of the special session of the 18th Lok Sabha.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the Centre’s decision to now implement a law to prevent use of unfair means in competitive exams after several scams, including in NEET and UGC-NET tests, amounted to a “damage control”. The law was necessary, but it deals with question paper leaks and other irregularities after they have happened, Ramesh claimed.