India’s National Testing Agency (NTA) has announced on Friday a few changes ahead of the National Eligibility Entrance Test undergraduate (NEET UG) re-examination which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 21, to ensure that it is conducted “in a manner that is fair, secure and responsive to the needs of candidates”.
As part of these measures, the examination window has been extended to 195 minutes instead of the usual 180 minutes and will be from 2pm to 5.15pm. “This includes the time required for mandatory examination formalities such as signing of attendance sheets and other invigilation procedures,” NTA said.
It further clarified that the revised examination window aims to make sure that candidates are able to “utilise the intended examination time without feeling that administrative processes are taking away from their opportunity to attempt the paper”. In addition, it said, the space available for rough work in the question paper booklet has been increased.
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The following photos illustrate the changes. Take a look:
What is Neet UG?
The Neet UG is a mandatory national-level entrance test for 2.28 million Indian students aspiring to pursue undergraduate medical and dental courses. The main exam was held on May 3, but the NTA got information about alleged malpractices surrounding it and cancelled the exam.
Over 2.28 million registered candidates appeared for the ‘pen-and-paper mode’ exams held on May 3, across 551 Indian cities and 14 international ones, covering over 5,400 centres. It was one of the largest entrance exams conducted globally.
The NTA cancelled the exams because of allegations of widespread paper leakage. There were striking similarities between the leaked papers and the actual ones at the test. A multi-state investigation was launched to probe the leakage. On May 12, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the probe and arrested several people including a chemistry professor in Pune, who is the main accused with links to the NTA process.
The controversy is the latest to rock India’s examination system, sparking mounting criticism of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
Source: Khaleej Times