Why NEET and other all-India exams should be retained but reformed for excellence

Friedrich Nietzsche rightly said, “Evaluation is the most valuable thing we consider valuable. Value exists only through evaluation, and without evaluation, the essence of existence would be hollow." If one decodes this philosophical statement, in practical terms, examination is definitely a very significant component of any education system through which students and examinees are evaluated.

The importance of examinations has increased manifold in current times, as they open the door to admission into higher education programmes or employment.

The sanctity of the examination system, therefore, is paramount for any advanced society or country. Unfortunately, whether it’s school board examinations in different states or examinations conducted by the Public Service Commission for different jobs, questions have been raised time and again about their integrity.

The latest incidents in this series are the controversy surrounding the Medical Entrance Examination NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test), UGC-NET, or CSIR examinations.

Instead of finding a proper solution to the problem, it is unfortunate indeed that political subterfuge and one-upmanship have broken out over this issue, to the detriment of examinees’ interests.

The NEET issue encompasses administrative, technological, and political dimensions, and the solution, henceforth, should rise above politics and vested interests to prioritise the best interests of our youth.

A huge controversy has erupted with the paper leak in the NEET as students complained of grace marks being awarded to more than 1500 examinees, a huge increase in the number of students getting full marks, and the possibility of the question paper being leaked beforehand. As per the media reports, innumerable lapses occurred in the conduct of the NEET examination, and the examination agency, the National Testing Agency (NTA), is primarily in the dock, putting at stake the careers of lakhs of students.

However, clues about the involvement of many others outside NTA are also emerging. A thorough and impartial investigation is needed to restore the credibility of the NTA and the examination system. The central government not only removed the NTA chief, rightly bringing in a new competent head, but also set up a CBI inquiry.

Besides, in view of various administrative shortcomings, technological challenges, and logistical limitations in conducting various examinations by NTA, the Minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan, constituted a high-level committee of experts to make the examinations transparent and fair.

This committee, headed by former ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan, will work on improving the examination processes, data security protocols, and structure of the NTA. The seriousness of the government’s response to the NEET issue can be gauged from the fact that this issue was mentioned in the parliamentary address of the President herself.

Along with this, the Centre also notified the ‘Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024’ to prevent paper leaks and other unfair means in the exam. All crimes under this law are cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable.

None but PM Narendra Modi himself said, on the floor of parliament, “The government is extremely concerned about the NEET issue and is working on a war-like situation to fulfil its responsibilities.”

Undoubtedly, all these efforts will plug the hole in the exam system in the future. However, the CBI should also investigate whether the scam has any international linkage. Anti-India international forces are once again on the rise. It must be noted that the NEET was conducted in 14 centres in 12 other countries besides India. The media has reported the use of the dark internet in these paper leak cases. To clarify, the dark internet is often used for cybercrimes, which international intelligence organisations resort to. As far as the cancellation of the NEET exam is concerned, the matter is now in the Supreme Court.

In the midst of this controversy, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has gone to the extent of demanding the abolition of the NEET system itself. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has also vociferously opposed the NEET. Coincidentally, some other voices have also emerged for the abrogation of a centralised NEET.

The Bengal Chief Minister, in a letter to PM Modi, wrote that, in view of the irregularities in NEET, an all-India-level exam should be abolished and the old system be brought back, in which separate entrance examinations were conducted smoothly by the state governments for admission to medical colleges in respective states.

Mamata Banerjee’s argument about the smooth conduct of the old system does not match the facts. Truth be told, there was no end to the problems of the students in the old system. Apart from AIIMS, BHU, AMU, Pondicherry, CBSE, AFMC, and different states had their respective medical entrance examinations for the same medical programme (MBBS). Many private medical colleges, like CMCH Vellore, had their own entrance examinations. It was simply impossible for students from lower classes and lower middle classes to appear in all the exams. Even students from upper-middle-class backgrounds found it challenging and exhausting to appear in numerous examinations. It was a waste of time, money, and energy.

Keeping these complexities in mind, in 2011, CNR Rao, the chairman of the Scientific Advisory Council of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the Congress-led government, sent a four-page document titled ‘Essential Steps for Progress in Higher Education: A List’ to the then Prime Minister. The document mentioned that students were burdened and stressed by innumerable examinations, which impacted their energy and creativity. It underlined an urgent need to free students from the web of examinations and recommended a unified national examination for admission to various programmes of higher education. The Medical Council of India, meanwhile, also suggested a common medical test for all. Considering all such suggestions and recommendations and keeping the students’ interests in mind, the unified and centralised medical entrance examination NEET was initiated in 2017 and was definitely a welcome step.

This unitary and centralised examination system, which Mamta Banerjee further iterates, violates the true spirit of the federal structure of the country and is completely unacceptable. This argument again fails the constitutional as well as ethical tests. Education is on the concurrent list of the Constitution; henceforth, the Centre can take such decisions in the interest of the country and the people (NEET in the students’ interest in the current case). Secondly, the Centre has been conducting centralised exams like UPSC for decades for the appointment of IAS, IPS, or IFS in the states. Thirdly, if Banerjee’s point is accepted, it will open a pandora box, demanding entrance exams in engineering, law, and various other unitary exams as well, which will be inimical to the interests of the common students. Only the rich and the resourceful will benefit from the old system of separate examinations.

Mamata Banerjee also pronounces that the current system has given rise to corruption on a large scale. It must be noted that irrespective of the exam being conducted by the Centre or the state governments, paper leaks and irregularities in entrance exams or exams for jobs have not been unusual. In fact, at least 48 instances of paper leaks have been reported from 16 states in the last couple of years.

Apart from the Congress party government, these incidents of paper leaks and irregularities have come to light in other parties’ state governments as well. The notorious Bengal teacher recruitment scam of 2016 during Mamata Goverment, the infamous JPSC exam scam of 2008 in Jharkhand during Hemant Soren regime, the UPPMT paper leak during Akhilesh Yadav’s government in Uttar Pradesh in 2014, or during the Congress government in Rajasthan, 12 paper leaks or corruption cases from 2018 to 2023, or in Tamil Nadu, the police recruitment exam question paper leak in 2005, the NEET impersonation scam in 2019, or the TNPSC scam of 2020 are glaring examples in this regard. It is also a matter of concern that the name of the personal secretary of a Neta of a major regional party and former Deputy Chief Minister has also cropped up in this current NEET scam.

The point here is that opposition to the NEET examination and the demand to abolish it are not justified. Unitary and centralised all India exams like NEET are in the interest of the students and the country as well. However, to ensure that such incidents do not reoccur in the future and that the trust of the candidates remains intact in exams like the NEET, it is imperative that all necessary steps be taken for their inviolability.

The author is the Dean of Planning at Delhi university and a Professor in Hindi Department. He tweets @NiranjanKIndia. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.