NEET-UG Results Controversy

June 14, 2024

What’s in Today’s Article?

Background:

On June 13^th, the Supreme Court was reviewing petitions challenging the award of grace marks to 1,563 candidates from six NEET centres who experienced technical issues and weren't given the full 3.2 hours to complete the exam.
These grace marks were awarded based on a court order and a recommendation from a committee formed by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
Petitioners argued that the grant of grace marks was arbitrary and lacked transparency.

Union Government’s Stand:

The Union government informed the Supreme Court that the scorecards of 1,563 candidates who received grace marks in the NEET-UG 2024 exam on May 5 will be cancelled.
These candidates will have the opportunity to retake the exam on June 23, with results expected by June 30 and counselling starting on July 6.
The affected candidates will be notified of their actual scores without the grace marks and can choose to either take the re-test or accept their revised scores as final.

About National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET):

The NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) is an entrance examination for students who wish to pursue undergraduate medical courses (MBBS/BDS) and postgraduate courses (MD/MS) in government or private medical colleges.
Objective: To standardize the admission process for medical and dental courses across India, ensuring a uniform evaluation of candidates' eligibility.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducts NEET on behalf of the Ministry of Education.

About National Testing Agency (NTA):

The NTA is an autonomous organization in India responsible for conducting entrance examinations for higher educational institutions.
The NTA was established in November 2017 by the Ministry of Education to standardize and streamline the conduct of entrance exams across the country.
Objective: To improve the quality and transparency of entrance examinations, ensuring fairness and efficiency in the assessment process.
Functions:
- Conducting Exams: The NTA conducts various national-level entrance examinations for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate programs.
- Developing Question Papers: The NTA is responsible for developing high-quality question papers.
- Result Processing: The NTA processes examination results efficiently, ensuring timely release of scores and ranks.
Headquarters: New Delhi
Overall, the National Testing Agency plays a crucial role in India's education system by providing a reliable, transparent, and efficient framework for conducting entrance examinations.

About the NEET-UG Results Controversy:

On June 4, the National Testing Agency (NTA) released the results for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2024 examination.
Approximately 2.4 million candidates participated in the NEET UG test held on May 5 across 571 cities, including 14 centers outside India.
The exam sought to fill the 1,08,940 available MBBS seats distributed among more than 700 medical institutions nationwide.
Allegations:
- Post evaluation, there have been complaints about the unusually high number of students (67) who hit the perfect score of 720/720.
- Also, there are complaints about students who scored “statistically impossible” marks, while some cases of cheating by proxy were also reported.
- Other cases pertaining to the question paper leak are still to be heard by the Supreme Court.
These charges led to nationwide protests from students and political parties.
Both groups are demanding a fair investigation and a fresh NEET exam, citing concerns about a question paper leak that may have given some students an unfair advantage.
Experts and students argue that the integrity of NEET, designed to regulate medical admissions and ensure quality, was compromised by these reported violations.

NTA’s Response:

NTA officials attributed the unusually high number of full scores to an "easy paper".
However, it has formed a four-member committee to investigate the allegations.
The committee found that awarding compensatory marks to 1,563 students created a "skewed situation."
They noted that grace marks should have been limited to attempted questions and recommended canceling the test for these students.

Conclusion:

Students and education experts are dissatisfied with canceling the NEET exam for only 1,500 students, arguing that this acknowledges an error and the entire May 5 exam should be re-conducted for all candidates.
They claim this partial cancellation indicates a failure of the system and has led to a loss of faith, as expressed on social media.
Critics argue that instead of ensuring fair competition, the current conduct of NEET has created additional layers of privilege.
Given the exam's large scale, with over 23 lakh students across 4,500 centers in multiple languages, minor issues are expected.
However, after nearly a decade, it's reasonable to expect that the exam's initial problems should be resolved.
They believe that preventing fraud and ensuring fair administration should be possible for government agencies.