As per the reports, the senior officials of the ministries of education and health and National Testing Agency (NTA) will hold a meet to decide the possibility of conducting NEET 2021 twice and in computer-based test mode on Monday, January 25, 2021.
As hinted earlier by the Education Minister, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, NEET 2021 exam date, registration date, etc. shall be out by January 25, 2021. Now that the meeting is also scheduled to be held on January 25, 2021, it is highly likely that the exam date, registration date, mode of the exam and its frequency will be announced on Monday, altogether.
As per the reports, the government officials have said that if NTA is able to conduct the exam in online mode by managing the logistics, then NEET can be held as a computer based exam and it will be a good idea.
The reports claim that the officials have also stated that the world has moved on to CBTs, the reliability and the security of the online exams are well established, and hence it is time for NEET to embrace the online mode of examination.
Since Education Ministry has announced that JEE Main 2021 will be held multiple times a year, the demand to hold NEET 2021 twice has increased. The engineering aspirants of the nation are already getting not 2 or 3, but 4 attempts this year, as JEE Main 2021 will be held in February, March, April, and May 2021.
The conduction of NEET in online mode will be the decision of the health ministry only. Conducting NEET online will not only benefit the students but will also make the exam process more transparent and the results of the test will be evaluated faster and more accurately.
Additionally, recently the Ministry of Education has confirmed via PIB press release that syllabus of NEET 2021 or any other national level entrance exam will not be changed. However, there may be change in exam pattern to ensure students with reduced syllabus are not affected.
On one hand, NTA is holding JEE Main 2021 twice a year and in online mode since 2019, whereas, NEET continues to be an offline exam. If NEET is decided to be held twice and in online mode, then this will be the first time ever that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) will go through such a major reform. NEET is taken by around 15 lakh candidates every year and it is the only UG medical entrance exam in India.
