NTA: Ensured no board’s students had advantage in NEET-UG

NTA: Ensured no board’s students had advantage in NEET-UG

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:22.10.2021

After the Supreme Court dismissed a petition on Wednesday demanding that this year’s National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEETUG) be re-conducted, officials pointed out that the exam had been tweaked to ensure no educational board’s students had an advantage. They also pointed out that students’ concerns on answer papers being tampered with had been dealt with.

Officials at the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the examination, said they had considered state education boards’ syllabi while framing questions for this year’s examination. “There have been concerns that the syllabus has been pitched high and is based on a particular board. Therefore, the NTA involved experts from state boards in the process and translators are sourced from state governments,” said an NTA official, who did not wish to be identified.

Officials said a team of the School Education Department of the Tamil Nadu government which analysed this year’s question papers found that 163 of the 200 questions (82%) were from the state board’s syllabus. “A conscious effort was made to ensure the alignment of the question papers with various state boards,” said Vineet Joshi, director-general of NTA.

The entrance exam for medical courses came under a cloud after Tamil Nadu passed a bill in September to exempt the state’s students from having to take the exam. Among the allegations against the NEET-UG is that it favours students from the CBSE board and forces students of state boards to rely on coaching classes, which is unfavourable for poorer students. The results of this year’s exam will be announced next week.

Full report on www.toi.in