- For the uninitiated, NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) is India’s largest, mandatory, single-window, pen-and-paper entrance exam for admission to undergraduate medical programs (MBBS, BDS, AYUSH). It is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for over 22 lakh aspirants. Also, it is the sole criterion for entering public/private medical colleges, including AIIMS. To provide a proper perspective, the aspirations of lakhs of students ride on NEET, for this is the stepping stone into some of the most demanding professional medical institutions in the country. Thus, the preparations for besting the entrance test start in earnest even before the students enter grade 10. As can be seen, the importance attached to NEET needs no further elaboration.
PC: Times Now
- Unfortunately, NEET conducted by the NTA is in the news for all the wrong reasons. The NEET conducted recently was cancelled since the exam paper leak was detected, rendering the student community distraught and traumatized. Two years ago, on June 13, 2004, over a month after NEET was held on May 5, the Union Education Minister emphasized there had been no leak of the all-India medical entrance exam paper. By June 25, CBI was on the case, as the enormity and messy fallout of the multi-state exam-leak ops surfaced. The first FIR was filed by Bihar cops on May 5 itself. Should one see this year’s cancellation impacting 23L applicants as an improvement? That the leak was confirmed quickly and the cancellation announced within days?Give me a break.
PC: Rus Education
- Sarcastically speaking, that the Union Government and NTA spared us denials? There seem to be fundamental flaws in NTA – its architecture, priorities, management, administration, and cybertech-security. What else can explain the repeated failures on the same issues, year after year? Teething problems don’t stretch a decade – NTA, as a central, nodal body to conduct all college and professional entrance exams, was established in 2017. Its functioning has been marred by question paper leaks, cheating, fraud, and an ever-faltering algorithm-led mapping of applicants to test centres, forcing applicants on long, pricey commutes. Taken together, NTA has made getting into college/higher education an expensive obstacle race. What a mess!
PC: EastMojo
- The resultant outcome is a high mental health cost for school-leaving teens and their hapless families. Little wonder that families, those who can conceive of it, are increasingly exploring overseas options for higher education. A Niti Aayog Nov 2025 working paper cites RBI numbers to show that Indians’ spending on overseas education has been meteoric over the last decade. In 2013-14, Indians sent about Rs. 975cr abroad for higher studies. By 2023-24, this had jumped to around Rs. 29k cr, over 20 times more, and equal to almost half of GOI’s higher education budget. But only 3 of every 100 Indian students study abroad. The 97% hope to get into college somewhere in India. GOI must review NTA’s basic blueprint forthwith for the sake of students/the economy.
