As the National Testing Agency (NTA) is set to release the JEE Main 2025 Session 2 results for Paper 1 (BE/BTech) today, April 17, 2025, the controversy surrounding response sheet errors enters its fifth day. Education experts across India are calling for immediate accountability and concrete solutions from the National Testing Agency (NTA).
Following NTA's April 15 statement addressing only provisional answer key concerns while avoiding the allegation that many students' answers weren't recorded at all, experts have stepped forward with practical proposals to resolve the crisis.
Simple solutions available
Purnima Kaul, JEE mentor and founder of JEE One, points to straightforward verification methods that the NTA is inexplicably not utilising.
"They give rough sheets in the examinations on which students fill in their name and application number before submitting them," Kaul explained. "If a student is saying they attempted 60 questions, they must have done the rough work as well. NTA could simply check those rough sheets to verify if a student has solved it."
She emphasised this approach would easily determine the truth: "If you see that the student has gotten the right answer on their rough work, then obviously they would have marked it on the screen as well. This is a very easy solution which NTA should implement."
Kaul also highlighted technological options: "If cameras were focusing on student screens, maybe we can check the recordings and see if students are actually right when claiming they marked more answers than NTA recorded."
A lottery, not an exam?
Dinesh Mishra, JEE Educator at Radiance Academy, Jabalpur, with 25 years in the field, expressed frustration at the recurring nature of such problems.
"This issue happens every year, maybe on a smaller scale, but people are now more alert and can raise concerns through social media," Mishra noted. "I've been in this field for 25 years, and I don't understand why an authority tasked with conducting such a crucial exam can't do it properly. Even a single mark can change a student's destiny."
When asked about potential solutions, Mishra criticised the standard approach. "Authorities usually give bonus marks, but these are awarded to everyone, including those who don't deserve them. The same bonus marks to each aspirant is definitely not the solution."
He went further to suggest systemic issues: "Every year in JEE Main or Advanced, there is always some issue, and when bonus marks are awarded, it makes this exam more luck-based than merit-based. It becomes a lottery rather than an assessment of knowledge."
Transparency concerns
Both experts questioned the current percentile-based evaluation system, suggesting it creates opportunities for manipulation.
"Instead of a percentile system with two shifts, there should be a score-based result like before COVID," Mishra argued. "Currently, if one performs brilliantly but happens to be in a shift with many other students who performed brilliantly too, their percentile can be low. Meanwhile, an average student among below-average ones can get a better percentile."
He added, "This comparison of one among the few instead of among all is not fair and completely depends on luck. There's even scope for corruption because after one session, they understand students' performance levels, opening a gate where students could theoretically be given a slot with low scorers to increase their percentile."
NTA'S response under scrutiny
Kaul criticised NTA's recent statement as evasive. "They are not acknowledging the real problem. They're focusing on the provisional answer key issue, saying, 'Why are you fretting over this? This is provisional. We correct everything in the final answer key.' But they're not addressing that answers weren't recorded in the first place."
She claimed, "NTA plays on legal language, using these words gives them benefits if anything goes wrong. Even for admit cards, they don't write 'final admit card', it's called 'provisional admit card.' What does that mean? Will they change it one hour before the exam?"
Limited options ahead
According to Mishra, the options now are limited. "The only way out is to conduct a re-exam, which they will not do. Giving bonus marks won't fix the chaos. And if they cancel this exam and take just the scores from January, that's also unfair for those who scored better in April or who didn't appear for the first session."
At the crossroads
As this crisis unfolds, it raises fundamental questions about the future of high-stakes testing in India. With NTA already under scrutiny following last year's NEET-UG allegations, this new controversy threatens to further erode public confidence in the examination system.
Mishra's damning assessment, "Literally small coaching centers conduct better exams than what NTA does every year", reflects growing frustration among educators and students alike.
