From 2019 students can appear in JEE and NEET paper twice a year
NEW DELHI: This year, 12 lakh youngsters sat for the annual JEE Main for admission to engineering institutions. Predictably, many could not make the grade, while others would have wanted to improve their scores, but their next opportunity would have come only a year later. This will no longer be the case, with the government announcing on Saturday that from 2019, aspirants will be able to sit twice a year for not only JEE Main, but also NEET for entry into medical colleges.
Luck vs Merit(JEE MAINS)
"The NTA will conduct the examinations in batches of four. That means there will be eight sets of question papers for the same seat. It is bound to create confusion and discrimination among test takers as not all question papers will be equally tough or easy," Ankit Singh, who is currently studying for JEE (M) at the Guidance Classes."Many students will feel alienated if they receive a particularly tough paper instead of an easy one that their friend taking the other sitting received," Ankit further warned.
IIT Roorkee alumni Rahul Parmar agreed that the decision was borderline absurd.
"From a merit-based system of testing, the exam patterns is going to become more luck based. It's not like the reforms bring any changes in the question paper in terms of its structure - questions will still be objective, which isn't entirely a bad thing for JEE (M). This will just increase more unfair assessment and re-checking of answer sheets at students' cost," Parmar said
"From a merit-based system of testing, the exam patterns is going to become more luck based. It's not like the reforms bring any changes in the question paper in terms of its structure - questions will still be objective, which isn't entirely a bad thing for JEE (M). This will just increase more unfair assessment and re-checking of answer sheets at students' cost," Parmar said
No 'NEET' gains
NEET aspirants appearing from humanities also criticised the reforms as being incomplete.
"NEET is primarily an entrance for teachers. As a PhD student studying modern history, I find it problematic that ancient and medieval history are clubbed in an MCQ format in the question papers. there is a lack of scope for me to prove my intellectual prowess since the structure of questions is restrictive and more in tandem with engineering question paper patterns," Saib Bilaval, a third year PhD student from Jawaharlal Nehru University said.
NET aspirant and literarture student Bidisha Chandra from Kolkata agreed with Said, claiming that irrespective of who was responsible for conducting the tests, students were likely to suffer if the question patterns were not changes.
"It doesn't matter which agency is conducting it, CBSE or NTA. I feel the whole pattern of testing is unscientific. If the NTA can bring in substantial change in how a literature student will be evaluated for NTA, then I will be satisfied. " Bidisha told said.
Many have also questioned the fact that higher number of selected students also need to translate into an equal number of seats.
"Would there be enough vacancies? Because if not, then conducting examinations twice will only lead to more college-less students," Jadavpur University student and NEET aspirant Manaswini Sen wrote on Facebook.
However the strongest criticism came from students pursuing NEET.
Sangeeta (name-changed), an MBBS aspirant studying at Akash Medical Institute in Noida's Sec 18 told News18 that the new rules could end up creating more confusion.
"Earlier the CBSE told Supreme Court that there will be just one common question paper for all NEET entrance examinations after CBSE's mismanagement of the multiple question papers system. Who's to say that a new body will not suffer from the same problems? It's not like there are any efforts to help improve student quality," Sangeeta said.
NEET aspirants also raised questions against the decision to go entirely online with the tests.
"Many medical applicants come from villages and not have computer literacy at par with their city-dwelling counterparts. In case of a fully digital test, many who are not well versed with technology shall suffer. There are so many who still get their online exam forms filled by the cyber cafe owner," said 19-year-old Rita Sahu, who studies at a private Kota institute.
Rita also added that considering the number of suicides, exam procedures needed to be simplified for students, not made more complicated.
The government in Tamil Nadu, a state already rife with contentious debates about the NEET examination, has refused to accept the reform to conduct NEET twice a year claiming that six months was too short a span to allow students to re-take an examination.
The Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) in Tamil Nadu have also opposed the move, attacking the union government for creating confusion among students appearing for medical entrance tests. In Feb 2017, the state had adopted two Bills which sought Tamil Nadu's exemption from NEET.
However, most students looked forward to the National Testing Agency taking charge of the examinations.
"The only reason these exams were not held twice a year was because of lack of manpower and bad management on CBSE's end. NTA, which is single a body specifically for conducting examinations,should help bring in some transparency," Promit Mookherjee, former Delhi University student and NEET aspirant told.
"It doesn't matter which agency is conducting it, CBSE or NTA. I feel the whole pattern of testing is unscientific. If the NTA can bring in substantial change in how a literature student will be evaluated for NTA, then I will be satisfied. " Bidisha told said.
Many have also questioned the fact that higher number of selected students also need to translate into an equal number of seats.
"Would there be enough vacancies? Because if not, then conducting examinations twice will only lead to more college-less students," Jadavpur University student and NEET aspirant Manaswini Sen wrote on Facebook.
However the strongest criticism came from students pursuing NEET.
Sangeeta (name-changed), an MBBS aspirant studying at Akash Medical Institute in Noida's Sec 18 told News18 that the new rules could end up creating more confusion.
"Earlier the CBSE told Supreme Court that there will be just one common question paper for all NEET entrance examinations after CBSE's mismanagement of the multiple question papers system. Who's to say that a new body will not suffer from the same problems? It's not like there are any efforts to help improve student quality," Sangeeta said.
Rural students may suffer (NEET)
NEET aspirants also raised questions against the decision to go entirely online with the tests.
"Many medical applicants come from villages and not have computer literacy at par with their city-dwelling counterparts. In case of a fully digital test, many who are not well versed with technology shall suffer. There are so many who still get their online exam forms filled by the cyber cafe owner," said 19-year-old Rita Sahu, who studies at a private Kota institute.
Rita also added that considering the number of suicides, exam procedures needed to be simplified for students, not made more complicated.
The government in Tamil Nadu, a state already rife with contentious debates about the NEET examination, has refused to accept the reform to conduct NEET twice a year claiming that six months was too short a span to allow students to re-take an examination.
The Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) in Tamil Nadu have also opposed the move, attacking the union government for creating confusion among students appearing for medical entrance tests. In Feb 2017, the state had adopted two Bills which sought Tamil Nadu's exemption from NEET.
However, most students looked forward to the National Testing Agency taking charge of the examinations.
"The only reason these exams were not held twice a year was because of lack of manpower and bad management on CBSE's end. NTA, which is single a body specifically for conducting examinations,should help bring in some transparency," Promit Mookherjee, former Delhi University student and NEET aspirant told.
