NEET in online or pen-and-paper mode: Ministry weighing options

The Education and Health Ministry are deliberating on whether to conduct medical entrance exam NEET-UG in pen and paper mode or online mode and a decision in this regard is expected soon, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Tuesday. The Education Ministry has held two rounds of talks with the Health Ministry led by Union Minister JP Nadda. Currently, NEET-UG is conducted offline - in pen and paper mode - wherein students have to solve multiple choice questions on an OMR sheet.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is the largest entrance exam in the country in terms of number of candidates appearing for the test. In 2024, a record over 24 lakh candidates took the exam. "The administrative ministry of NEET is Health Ministry and hence we are in talks with them about whether NEET should be conducted in pen and paper mode or online mode. We have had two rounds of talks with Health Ministry led by JP Nadda. Whatever option will be considered best suited for conducting the exam, NTA is ready to undertake the exercise," Pradhan told reporters. The Minister said a decision in this regard is expected soon and the reforms will be implemented in the 2025 edition of the exam. The NTA conducts the NEET every year for admission into medical colleges. A total of 1,08,000 seats are available for the MBSS course. Of the seats available for the MBBS course, approximately 56,000 seats are in government hospitals and about 52,000 are in private colleges.

Admissions to undergraduate courses in Dentistry, Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha also utilise the results of the NEET for admission. The idea of switching to Computer Based Test (CBT) mode for NEET is not new and has been deliberated several times before. However, the push for the exam reforms came following the paper leak controversy earlier this year. In the line of fire over alleged irregularities in NEET and PhD entrance NET, the Centre had in July set up the panel to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations by NTA. According to the high-level panel headed by former ISRO Chief R. Radhakrishnan, multi-stage testing for NEET-UG could be a viable possibility that needs to be followed up.