The Kerala Legislative Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution urging the Central government to undertake comprehensive structural reforms of India’s national entrance examination system.
File Photo: IANS
The Kerala Legislative Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution urging the Central government to undertake comprehensive structural reforms of India’s national entrance examination system. The House expressed serious concerns over the integrity, openness, fairness and impartiality of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and other national-level examinations.
Presenting the resolution in the Assembly, Higher Education Minister Roji M John stated that continuous reports of paper leaks, malpractice, technical glitches, and grading flaws have eroded public trust in the NEET exam. “NEET determines the future of lakhs of students aspiring for medical education. The repeated allegations, investigations, court interventions and controversies surrounding the examination have created widespread anxiety among students, parents and the public… Despite serious lapses being exposed, the Central government and the agencies concerned failed to acknowledge the gravity of the situation in time and take effective corrective measures,” he said.
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The resolution highlighted that irregularities over the last three years have severely degraded public confidence, inflicting tremendous anxiety and driving tragic student suicides across the country. It noted that these complications are not restricted to NEET-UG, pointing to comparable disruptions in the Common University Entrance Test (CUET-UG), UGC-CSIR examinations, and Central recruitment tests conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and Railway Recruitment Board (RRB).
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The resolution further says that recurring lapses violate fundamental constitutional provisions regarding social justice and equal opportunity.
The resolution demands that the Union government identify and prosecute organized exam-cheating syndicates, institutional staff, and officials guilty of administrative failures.
The Assembly unanimously backed system accountability, but BJP lawmakers opposed the motion’s criticism of the central government, arguing that the Union government responded quickly after irregularities emerged. BJP member V Muraleedharan introduced an amendment to praise the central government’s recent corrective measures regarding the national entrance examination system. However, the House voted down this proposal.
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