NEET UG irregularities breed distrust in exams processes: Academicians, students share other fallbacks

The concerns that began with the instances of malpractice in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test- Undergraduate (NEET-UG) exam this year have now grown into a much larger issue of alleged mismanagement and incompetence of the exam conducting body, National Testing Agency (NTA).

In the last month, irregularities have surfaced in majority of national-level entrance exams including NEET-UG, University Grant Commission - National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET), NEET Postgraduate (PG), and even the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam.

These recurring instances suggest that the allegations of irregularities and malpractice are more than just an ‘accident’, leading to distrust among the student community regarding the entire system.

Sonal Chaudhary, who appeared for the NEET-UG examination this year, said “Of course, the students do not want NTA to conduct the exams. But the matter is not in our hands, what we think about the NTA does not matter. We do not have any other option, we have to build our career and we will have to put our trust in whatever path is available.”

Now, in another such instance, the NTA has announced that it would hold a re-test for over 1,000 candidates of the Common University Entrance Test- Undergraduate (CUET-UG), on July 19. This comes at a time when the results for CUET-UG 2024 have already been delayed for over two weeks.

Mahwish Daniyal, a CUET-UG 2024 candidate, told EdexLive, “Are the futures of lakhs of students a joke? All of a sudden, they announced a re-exam on July 19 for students who had raised complaints. There was no proper procedure to raise complaints and randomly, they have chosen these students for the re-exam now. We have no idea how much more delay in exam results will this lead to.”

"I am a student who opted for a drop year, I gave an entire year for this exam and now there is no trust in the system. So many of my friends, who opted for a drop year to get into the university of their preference, have now given up and enrolled in private universities due to uncertainties. If NTA cannot take the responsibility of these exams, it should hand it over,” Mahwish added.

Are centralised exams really the solution?

Abha Dev Habib, Assistant Professor at Delhi University and secretary of the Democratic Teachers' Front (DTF), claimed, “These instances are prompting an idea that the integrity of the entire system is of no importance. These days, students of Classes XI and XII who enroll in JEE-NEET coaching classes are getting certificates from dummy schools. Now, CUET is also promoting the same idea. This is like cheating the system.”

“When you make corruption so widespread, then institutions who use corrupt practices to fill their pockets will always be admired, rather than questioned. That is a very dangerous place to be at. If there is no integrity of the system or an individual, what is left?” questioned Habib.

Educationists added that national-level exams lead to a highly competitive environment for the students, leading them to rush to coaching centres and even fraudulent practices like paper leak mafias that promise high scores.

Prof Habib added that in the last two years, since the introduction of CUET-UG, heterogeneity has decreased in Delhi University (DU), with a lesser number of female students and students from Southern states as compared to previous years.

Meanwhile, central universities like JNU are again pushing for in-house admission tests for PhD admissions amid ongoing exam irregularities.

Speaking about this, Professor Moushumi Basu, President, Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association (JNUTA), said, “Five years back, when we conducted our own exams for each level, there was a proper academic calendar and the academic session used to start by July 22 every year. Now, everything has fallen into the NTA's lap. Because of that, the university has become hostage to NTA's timeline.

Basu added that along with an in-house admission test for PhD admissions, the JNUTA is also pushing for in-house exams for UG and PG admissions in the university as well.