New Delhi, July 8: In an overhaul of the education system, the Government on Saturday announced that it will set up a new agency to conduct Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) main and NEET exams twice a year from 2019.
The newly-constituted National Testing Agency (NTA) will start conducting NEET, JEE (Mains) and NET entrance exams, which are currently organised by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), from the upcoming academic session, Human Resource Development minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters here.
‘The National Testing Agency has started its work. It will conduct Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-Main), UGC-NET, National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) and Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT) examinations. Millions of students to benefit,’ he said.
The main feature, he said, was that ‘the student will not lose one year because there will be two examinations before admission. He/she can appear in either of the two or both. The best score will be taken into account for the result.
While JEE exam will be held in January and April, NEET will be conducted in February and May.
The practice module would be made available at http://www.nta.ac.in from August1, 2018. From August-end, students could practice, if needed in the nearby engineering colleges, CBSE or Kendriya Vidyalaya schools.
The minister assured that the syllabus, question format, language and fees would not change, adding that each exam would be conducted on four to five dates.
Mr Javadekar attempted to allay fears in this regard, stating that the format would be immune to cheating and leaks since it was computer-based. However, when reporters pointed out that this year’s Class 10 examinations
were computer-based but created room for cheating, he brushed them aside, saying the NTA module doesn’t allow screen-sharing.
“The exams will be more secure and on a par with international norms. There will be no issues of leakage and it would be more student friendly, open, scientific and a leak-proof system.”
According to an official release, the examinations will use highly secured IT software and encryption to ensure delivery of tests just in time thereby ensuring no leakages and other malpractices.
“NTA will establish a network of test practice centres for students of rural areas so that everyone will have an opportunity to practice before the exam. Schools/engineering colleges with computer centres would be identified and kept open on Saturday/Sunday starting from the third week of August. Any student can use the facility free of charge,” it added.
The probable schedule for UGC-NET is December 2018, JEE (Mains) will be held in January 2019 and April 2019. CMAT & GPAT are due to be held in January 2019.
The proposed change will see the the NTA replacing the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) which has conducted NEET on behalf of the Medical Council Of India and the Health Ministry and NET on behalf of the University Grants Commission (UGC)
