CBSE: Same sets of question papers for all NEET  examinees

Amit Anand Choudhary | TNN | Jan 26, 2018, 05:00 IST




NEW DELHI: The current practice of preparing different sets of question papers for students taking the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in regional languages is set to go with the CBSE telling the Supreme Court on Thursday that from this year only one question paper will be set, and that it will be translated into different languages. 

The decision was taken after the board found itself in a fix following allegations that the question papers in regional languages for NEET 2017 were more difficult than the English and Hindi papers and a bunch of petitions was filed in the apex court by students seeking quashing of the exam. The students also alleged that some questions in regional languages were wrong and hampered their chances in the entrance test.

The CBSE, which conducts the medical entrance test, was forced to take the decision after the SC termed the practice illogical as there would be no uniformity in the entrance examination and students would be asked different questions.

Different sets of questions illogical: Court

Appearing before a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and S Abdul Nazeer, CBSE's counsel, Tara Chandra Sharma, told the court that only one question paper would be set for all students and those who opted for vernacular languages would be provided translated question papers in their preferred medium.

Students are allowed to take the exam in 10 languages. The SC had earlier said there would no uniformity in the entrance examination if students were provided different question papers. It had asked the CBSE to get the same question paper translated into different languages.

"It is an illogical practice. How will you evaluate the competence of students when their questions are different? There is no reason for setting different question papers. There must be the same question paper for all students who take the exam in Hindi, English or other language," the court had said.

The board had contended that if the level of difficulty of all papers was the same, then it served the purpose of uniformity in the examination process and there was nothing wrong in having multiple papers. But the court was not convinced and asked it to do away with the practice.