Rama Krishna Sangem
Policy makers, academicians and bureaucrats are scratching their heads to check NEET question paper leakages in future. Experts now suggest a formula – the administrators can use an AI (artificial intelligence) linked online examination for the purpose, says a story put out by leading financial daily, Business Standard on June 27, Thursday. This applies to both NET UG and PG tests.
The NEET-UG 2024 exam has been mired in controversy. Allegations include a question paper leak, an unusually high number of students scoring a perfect 720/720 and the awarding of grace marks to over 1,500 students due to a ‘loss of time’ during the exam. This has led to concerns about the integrity and fairness of the exam, with students and experts calling for a re-test.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) has denied any irregularities but has constituted a committee to investigate the allegations. The Supreme Court has also stepped in, ordering the cancellation of the grace marks awarded to 1,563 students, though students argue this does not go far enough and the entire exam should be re-conducted.
Amid this, academic professionals, experts, and members of the committee formed by the Ministry of Education have suggested various solutions to improve the process. These include implementing computer-based testing, scheduling exams over multiple days and shifts, using artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure unique question papers, increasing the involvement of medical colleges, and fostering higher discipline among students to maintain fair testing standards, according to a report by The Economic Times.
The report quoted Manindra Agrawal, director at IIT Kanpur, as saying that India is the only country where exams are conducted at such a large scale. “But we can look at a combination of computer-based tests with ‘any time and any centre’ model, AI tools to change the questions, and a rich question bank to ensure a smooth testing process,” Agrawal said.
The JEE Advanced exam for 2025 is expected to be organised by IIT Kanpur.
The report quoted an education expert as saying that opting for digital methods in testing is the best approach. “Even with the use of AI, one must exhaust all possibilities of error. Only once the almost (99.999 per cent) error-free stage is reached, can we rely on the testing design, not before that,” he said.
