- NEET, CUET exams proposed to be held twice yearly.
- Specialized training for school teachers to support aspirants.
- Review of competitive exam paper difficulty and syllabus.
Jagran Correspondent, New Delhi: Months after the NEET examination paper leak controversy, the Ministry of Education has prepared a draft proposing several measures for students preparing for competitive exams. The recommendations include conducting major national examinations such as NEET, and CUET, at least twice a year and providing specialised training for school teachers to better support aspirants.
At present, JEE Main is conducted more than once a year, while NEET and CUET are held only once a year. Conducting these examinations twice a year could provide students with greater flexibility and reduce the pressure associated with a single annual attempt.
To reduce students’ dependence on coaching institutes, the Ministry of Education formed a nine-member committee in June 2025 under the chairmanship of then Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi.
Although Vineet Joshi is no longer in the position, he had prepared a related draft before leaving the post and shared it with experts for their final suggestions.
The draft also proposes a fresh review of the difficulty level of question papers for competitive examinations.
Focus on Reducing Dependence on Coaching Institutes
According to jagran.com, there have been concerns from students that some questions in competitive examinations are either outside the prescribed syllabus or considerably more difficult than the level expected of Class 12 students, the committee has suggested a fresh review of the difficulty level of examination papers.
The draft further recommends that question papers should not be prepared solely on the basis of the NCERT curriculum. Instead, they should also take into account the curricula followed by other education boards.
The committee noted that a large number of students appearing for these examinations come from state education boards, in addition to central boards.
If the draft is finalised, the proposed measures could help reduce the stress with entrance examinations. At present, when an examination is conducted only once a year, students face considerable pressure as there is little scope for a second attempt within the same year. Conducting the examinations twice a year could help ease this pressure.
Training school teachers could also help academic preparation at the school level. This could reduce parents’ dependence on expensive coaching programmes, while students from different education boards across the country could benefit from a more uniform examination experience.
( With inputs from Arvind Pandey )