NEET UG: NEET exam system will change! Demand to make NEET 2-tier like JEE

Demand for change in NEET exam pattern: Amidst several serious irregularities in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and protests across the country, big questions have been raised not only on the National Testing Agency (NTA) but also on the system of pre-medical entrance examination in the country. Well After the irregularities in the NEET exam, a big question is whether the method of selecting students for one lakh seats in medical colleges across the country from among 23-24 lakh students is correct? Experts say that there is an immediate need to change the NEET exam. It needs to be changed from single tier to double tier and the pattern of its questions should also be changed.

‘Two stages of NEET are necessary, aptitude testing is also necessary’

NEET exam was earlier conducted by CBSE in the name of All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT). Former CBSE director Ashok Ganguly says-
‘NEET is now an offline and single tier exam, which needs to be changed. Examinations in which more than 10 lakh students appear should be double tier instead of single tier, which was earlier the case with AIPMT. For engineering admission too, JEE has been divided into two exams, JEE Main and JEE Advanced.’

he/she further said that, ‘Now there is a need that the first stage of NEET should be an MCQ (Multiple Choice Question) based exam. All students should give it. Out of these, a few lakhs should be selected who will give the second stage exam in which students will have to write. So that their aptitude can be known, which is required to become a doctor. This is very important. Because of the current system, coaching centers are coaching students.’

‘NEET evaluation system is not fair’

Former NCERT director and educationist Prof. Krishna Kumar says, ‘The purpose of the exam is that the purpose for which we are taking the exam should have a correct theoretical basis. Like NEET is taken to select future doctors. If we are doing the selection under the coaching system i.e. on the basis of repeated practice, ability to answer quickly and memorize, then it is not right.’

On the MCQ system of NEET, he/she says, ‘The child is expected to identify the correct answer out of four answers as soon as he/she reads the question. This will be possible only when he/she has practiced the book and the questions many times. This system is not related to medicine in any way. The work of a doctor goes through a process of thinking. But this thinking is not there in this evaluation system.’

he/she says, ‘UPPSC Civil Services Exam consists of Pre, Main and Interview. This means that students are evaluated in other ways besides MCQ. This is true. The situation is somewhat better in engineering exams as well.’

‘Changes are necessary in NTA and NEET exam system’

Vikas Kumar, career counsellor of Psychographic Society, says, there are four irregularities in NEET exam-

• First- paper leak, there is evidence of this in Patna.
• Second- Paper solver gang.
• Third, grace marks were given without the knowledge of NTA, due to which the discrepancy in the result was detected.
• Fourth- This year’s rank system is completely messed up. For example, if a score of 600 was around 30,000 last year, then this time the rank for the same score is around 80,000. This rank scam shows how the difference in rank increased so much?

The situation is that the ranks on which AIIMS were available will get you some of the top colleges of the country. The ranks on which top 10 colleges were available will get you a seat in state medical colleges and the NEET ranks on which seats were available in state colleges will not get you any college. Clearly, a large-scale investigation is needed. The NEET exam system also needs to be made two-level on the lines of JEE.