Want to be a doctor, engineer? Here’s why you can fail

Want to be a doctor, engineer? Here’s why you can fail

A Government App Throws Up Interesting Data That Shows Where And How NEET And JEE Aspirants Go Wrong

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

15.03.2021 

Nearly 47% of students gave an incorrect answer to a physics question related to motion in one dimension. In chemistry, over 45% got the answer to a solutions and colligative properties question wrong. Close to 37% didn’t know the answer to a biology question about plant respiration. In maths, 40% failed to answer a question on continuity and differentiability.

This is just the tip of a set of anonymised data on candidates preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) and Joint Entrance Exam-Main (JEE-Main) that The Times of India has exclusive access to.

Cracking NEET-UG or JEE-Main has never been easy at the best of times. The scourge of the pandemic has made it worse.

Forced lockdown, social distancing, patchy net connections and shuttered tuition centres have taken a toll on students’ preparation for various tests.

In May 2020, the National Testing Agency (NTA) launched the Abhyas mobile app to allow candidates to practise for the JEE-Main and NEET-UG tests. The artificial intelligence-based app helps students prepare for these two competitive exams through mock tests.

Between May 19, 2020, and January 29, 2021, over 54 lakh students took the NEET-UG practice tests while nearly 28 lakh sat for the JEE-Main mock test. This is the first time such a large sample of candidates planning to appear for the two exams is being analysed based on completed real-time tests.

While 3.4 lakh students took the tests in Uttar Pradesh (the highest), only 95 did so in Daman and Diu (the lowest).

“Via the app we are giving them (students) an analysis of the mistakes they are committing, what is the concept involved in that mistake, and then guiding them to the right concept,” Joshi said.

The idea behind the Abhyas app was to allow students to practise at home and also to diagnose problems faced by candidates

— Vineet Joshi, NTA director general