NEET and UGC Scam | NTA is Destroying Students? (Part 2)

 

Recurring Examination Paper Leaks and Government Response

In both cases, a paper has been leaked. The students' anger has also aroused the government. This year, in February, the Rajya Sabha passed the Public Examinations Bill. On June 21, the central government brought this act into effect by making rules for it. Under this, you can be sentenced to 3-5 years of jail for cheating in an exam. And you can also be fined ₹1 crore. But this fine and legal system will continue. The main problem is not the fine. The main problem is the NTA.

Problems Within the National Testing Agency (NTA)

So what are the problems in the NTA because of which 3-4 exams aren't conducted properly? First, let's understand what the NTA is. In its website, the NTA states that it's a premier, specialist, autonomous and self-sustained testing organization. The NTA was created in 2017 to organize competitive exams of higher education institutes. Prior to 2017, organizations like CBSE and AICTE conducted these exams. The purpose of the NTA was to create a specialized body in the country that would conduct exams. This would allow CBSE to focus on its main responsibility. That is, conducting board exams for students from Class 10th to 12th.

Overburdened and Understaffed NTA

When the NTA was created, it was believed that it would conduct computer-based tests. Whether it was JEEC or UGC-NET. It was believed that the NTA would partner with a technical service provider to conduct these exams properly. So what happened? First, the NTA is overburdened. Like what you see on the screen are all the exams that the NTA is responsible for. And NEET-UG is the country's largest exam. This year, 24 lakh students took the exam. If you think that JEE or UGC are the largest exams, then you're wrong. JEE-Mains has around 12-14 lakh students and UPSC has around 10 lakh students. But NEET-UG has 24 lakh students. So the NTA is overburdened. But the resources are limited. Like a former official of the Department of Higher Education said that the NTA should not be responsible for NEET-UG when it already has so many responsibilities. Prince Gajendra Babu, who is the General Secretary of an educational body in Tamil Nadu, said that if a single body handles so many exams, there are bound to be mistakes. The NTA is also understaffed. The NTA is responsible for more than 25 major exams. But the NTA has only 25 permanent members. So the NTA outsources a lot of things. Whether it's paper setting, paper distribution, or data security protocols. That's why a former official of the Department of Higher Education said that we need a separate body for high-stakes exams like NEET-UG, like in UPSC.

Challenges of Offline Examinations

We also have to understand that the NTA has to do many exams offline, which are not easy to do. NEET-UG has been a paper-based exam for a long time. But UGC-NET was once a computer-based exam. And in 2018, it was made a paper-based OMR exam. At the national level, you have to organize many logistical stages to get such big exams done in pen and paper mode. Multiple stages lead to the possibility of human interference in any stage. That's why the Bihar Police said that in the NEET-UG paper leak case, the NTA left many leakage points. A paper-based exam has many stages. For example, setting a paper, printing it, and then transporting it. An official of the Bihar Police said in his investigation that the gangs try to contact every company and every individual who is involved in any stage. The police official said that these gangs also try to talk to courier companies and truck drivers so that they can get a question paper. Computer-based tests are more secure because they don't require printing or transportation. So the possibility of human interference is reduced. We've seen the same thing in the Management Aptitude Test, which is used for admissions in MBA courses. This exam was also offline until 2019. But due to COVID-19, it's online now. And now, the All India Management Association, which conducts this exam uses many technologies for this exam. For example, tracking IP addresses has made this test more secure. Rekha Sethi, the director-general of this exam, said that due to such things, the possibility of paper leaks and malfunctions have become almost zero. It's not that a computer-based exam will solve all the problems. But a computer-based exam reduces the possibility of paper leak. We want to be a digital India. But a digital India can't conduct a big exam on an online basis.

Lack of Accountability and Transparency in NTA Operations

Another problem of NTA is the lack of accountability. They'll make mistakes, but won't admit it. For example, in 2022, a student from JNU, Balaji, noticed something strange in the entrance exam of JNU. There was an agreement between JNU and NTA for JNU's entrance exam. But Balaji found a lot of mistakes in the entrance exam. He said that there were a lot of mistakes in the answer keys. So Balaji filed an RTI to find out about the agreement between JNU and NTA. The reply was that they didn't have any information about the agreement. No formal agreement was mentioned. nor how much money JNU paid NTA for this exam. And this secrecy is a great quality of NTA. Ayesha Kidwai, a professor at JNU, said that NTA works like a private institution. They've been given the responsibility of big entrance exams. There's no transparency about how NTA members are selected, how they set the papers, whether they have a standard operating procedure, what their finances are, and how every exam centre is chosen. There's no information about this. So NTA has been given a huge responsibility. But they don't tell the public how they fulfill that responsibility. Another professor said that when the university itself sets the exams, at least there's good transparency. Because you know that the head of department is responsible if there's a problem with the exam. But when the NTA conducts an exam, the professor asks, who should we go to? Don't think that it's just a matter of small exam cancellations. It's a matter of the lives of millions of students.

The Psychological Toll on Aspiring Students

For example, listen to this incident. 19-year-old NEET Aspirant, Hanu Sharma, said that he was the first person in his family to go to college. "The rest of the family members are not educated. " "No one has gone to college. " "So I was the first kid. " "And I scored well in my 12th grade--93. 6%. " He took a gap year because of a family emergency he couldn't give the NEET exam last year. "I took a year off. " "So taking a year off means I'll do well next time. " He prepared for this exam for 3 years. His family supported him. "I worked for my kid day and night. " "So that I can pay my kid's fees. " But the system failed. "The thing is, our parents don't put pressure on us. " "And no teacher puts pressure on us. " "The education system puts pressure on us. " "And the preparation phase is the worst phase. " "I did the preparation. " "You cry, laugh, and get worried. " "Sometimes you even have su***dal thoughts. "

Systemic Failures and Their Impact on Applicants

Imagine if a person is preparing for an exam for 3 years and the system treats him like this, what will happen to his mental health? And unfortunately, this is not a one-time incident. A 27-year-old boy applied for a role as a technician at the Indian Council for Agricultural Research. He applied in December 2021. And after 3 years of exams, he found out that his results were cancelled. In 2021, he took the Haryana Public Service Commission exam, which was cancelled after 8 months without any explanation. Next year, he took the Bihar Public Service Commission exam. But the results were nullified because the paper leaked. We can discuss whether it's worthwhile to participate in these exams or not. But keep that aside. Imagine if two people are going for an exam, and after 8 months, the government cancels their results. What does it say about our system? An analysis by the Indian Express showed that in the past 5 years, there have been 41 cases of paper leaks which have ruined the schedule of 1. 4 crore applicants. 1. 4 crore applicants. In India, an average applicant prepares for a competitive exam for 3 years and 3 months. Now imagine, if those results are cancelled, and the paper leaks, what will happen? The same student will spend more time preparing for the exam. Meaning, he's not acquiring valuable skills, and he's not in the job market.

Consequences for Individuals and the Nation

So the country is suffering, and the applicant is also suffering. Because of what? Because our government can't hold exams properly. Whenever a student takes an exam, he hopes that he can maximize the things in his control. And he wants to minimize the things that are not in his control, which are external. But if external factors decide how your performance will be in the exam, your mental health will deteriorate. You will feel like a failure. You will give up on your life. Just because a testing agency could not conduct your exam properly. The same happened with Surbhi. 23-year-old Surbhi Singh lives with her family in a one-room house in Noida. Her NEET UG exam score is 650 marks. She should have gotten admission to King George's Medical University in Lucknow. But this year, Surbhi didn't get it. Because the results were such. So Surbhi says that she feels like she has failed. Society and family put pressure on them. Now, NTA is also putting a pressure. Krishnakumar, the former chairperson of NCERT, said that such things have a huge psychological impact on honest, exam-going students.

Erosion of Trust and Impact on Healthcare

A 2023 study showed that due to paper leaks, students' academic results and confidence in the country's education system fall. After doing such things, we ask why Indian students are going to Kazakhstan or Russia to do MBBS and work there. Because they don't have confidence in our system. A candidate said that he had no plans to go abroad for his master's especially after the Russian-Ukraine conflict. But maybe other doctors will do this. But remember that this doesn't only harm students, but the country as well. The government uses taxpayers' money to conduct these exams. Just guess how much money CBSE spent last year to conduct its exam. 17 crores. 17 crores were for the CBSE exam. Now think about other exams. Now think about retests because of a paper leak. Where does the money come from? From our own pockets. This money should be used to make the country more innovative. But instead, it's being used to conduct retests. When exams don't happen, vacancies don't get filled. And because of that, the service delivery we get is below average. "The AIIMS Delhi was established in the 1950s. " "People came for treatment at Delhi AIIMS from all over the country. " "But for decades, no one thought that we should open AIMS in other parts of the country as well. " And to some extent, this is true. Since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, the number of public hospitals has increased by 9%. But the main problem is not the lack of hospitals, but the lack of doctors. A 2023 report showed that India has a shortage of more than 80% of surgeons and pediatricians. The recommended doctor-patient ratio of the WHO should be 1 to 1000. In China, it's 2. 4 to 1000. But in India, it's 0. 7 to 1000. 24 lakh students in the country want to take the exam to become a doctor. But still, the country lacks doctors. What does this tell us about our system?

Vacant Government Posts and the Need for Solutions

In fact, last year, Union Minister Jitendra Singh told the Parliament that the Central Government's ministries and departments have 10 lakh posts vacant. 10 lakh vacant posts! So, in India, where we should have police, teachers, and doctors, that's not happening because the vacancies aren't being filled. It's easy to say that our country will remain like this. Worse and poor. It's very difficult to be optimistic. And I'm an optimist. And I want us all to set an optimistic mindset. We've talked about problems. There can be a lot of discussion on problems. Now let's talk about solutions. Don't skip this part. As we said earlier, NTA depends on external agencies, whether it's for paper setting or paper distribution. Because this dependence is on external agencies, the risk of a paper leak is very high. In fact, the Union Education Ministry has said that because NTA doesn't have in-house expertise, this is a big problem. So the first thing NTA needs to do is to get more resources. They need more full-time employees so that they can fulfill their responsibilities. When they do this, they'll be able to enforce the rules they've made.

Proposed Solutions: Enhanced Security and Learning from International Practices

For example, NTA's rules for NEET are that every exam room should have at least two CCTV cameras. But when a third-party reviewer went to about 400 exam centers out of 4000, he found out that 48% of the exam centers didn't have two working cameras in every exam room. We should conduct online exams to reduce the risk of a paper leak. And we can learn from China for exams that can't be done online.This is a high school in China where 10,000 students are taking the Gaokao exam. This exam decides which college high school students will go to for their undergraduate degree. If you think India has big exams, you don't know how many people take this exam. 1. 3 crore students every year. Now imagine that China conducts a paper exam for 1. 3 crore students every year where there's no major scam. This doesn't mean that this exam doesn't have corruption.

China's Measures for Secure Examinations

For example, in 2014, it was discovered that 127 candidates hired other candidates to take this exam. Since then, the Chinese government has worked hard to make this exam a full proof. For example, to verify the identity of the candidates, biometrics are used so that only registered students can enter the exam hall. UPSC is also planning to do this in India. But right now, India is just thinking about it. We know that in India, many gangs bribe transporters and couriers to leak the exam papers. This is difficult in China. Let me give you some examples. This exam is set by many high school and college teachers. They have to go through a tough vetting process, sign confidentiality agreements, and get strict training on how to keep secrets. When they're preparing the exam papers, they can't use any external device. There are jamming devices. They can only use a landline. This is also monitored 24x7. These papers are transported in special vehicles that have satellite navigation and a remote monitoring system. These vehicles are usually followed by the Chinese police and military.

Addressing Demand-Supply Gaps and Systemic Issues

NEET doesn't have a problem with secrecy. The biggest problem is demand and supply. More than 24 lakh candidates took this exam for about 1 lakh seats. And most people aren't eyeing 1 lakh seats. They are eyeing 50,000 seats. Because almost 50,000 seats are private university seats. The tuition fee is between 80 lakhs and 1. 5 crores. So even if you clear the NEET exam, you'll have to pay a hefty sum to a private institution. Good quality educational institutes lack enough seats and that's why people are desperate and ready to do anything. That's why many people have lost faith in the system. For example, this year, medical admissions in Kota's coaching institutes have fallen by 30%. Until we build better-quality colleges, students will continue to be desperate. Many new institutes are opening up in software engineering that are trying to change this. What about the medical field? Until strict action is taken, many Sanjeev Mukhiyas will crop up.

 For Part 1 Click Here