Central government's high-level panel on examination reforms has sought suggestions and feedback from students, parents and other stakeholders, till July 7, Ministry of Education officials said on Friday amid the ongoing controversy over alleged irregularities in exams, particularly medical entrance test NEET-UG 2024.
Amid a raging row, the panel headed by former ISRO chief R Radhakrishnan has been tasked with making recommendations on reforms in the examination process, enhancing data security protocols, and reviewing the structure and operations of the National Testing Agency (NTA).
"The committee is seeking suggestions, views and ideas from stakeholders, particularly students and parents, from June 27 to July 7, 2024. The suggestions can be submitted using mygov platform," a senior MoE official said.
At the centre of the entire exam irregularities controversy is medical entrance examination NEET and PhD entrance NET, which prompted the Centre to notify the panel last week to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through the NTA.
While NEET is under scanner over several irregularities, including alleged leaks, UGC-NET was cancelled as the ministry received inputs that the integrity of the exam was compromised. Two other exams -- CSIR-UGC NET and NEET PG -- were cancelled as a pre-emptive step.
The panel also includes former AIIMS Delhi director Randeep Guleria, Central University of Hyderabad Vice-Chancellor B J Rao, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT Madras K Ramamurthy, People Strong co-founder and Karmayogi Bharat board member Pankaj Bansal, IIT Delhi Dean of Student Affairs Aditya Mittal and MoE Joint Secretary Govind Jaiswal.
The committee has also been tasked with examining the existing security protocols related to the setting of the papers and other processes for different examinations and making recommendations to enhance the robustness of the system.
NEET-UG Exam Controversy
NEET-UG exam is a medical entrance examination conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). NEET-UG is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
The NTA conducted the medical entrance test NEET-UG on May 5 across 4,750 centres across the country and around 24 lakh candidates appeared.
The row erupted after results were out on June 4 and as many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA's history, with six from a centre in Haryana's Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities.
There was also a controversy over grace marks awarded to students to make up for the loss of time at six centres. The Centre later told the apex court that the grace marks were being scrapped and these 1,563 students would be given an option of a retest.
In an optional retest held for 1,563 students whose grace marks were scrapped after the matter reached the Supreme Court, only 813 appeared on Sunday.
