Several people have been detained in Maharashtra and Rajasthan as probe into the NEET-UG paper leak, which led to the exam being cancelled expands. Lakhs of students have been impacted by the cancellation, and what adds to the outrage is that this is not the first time irregularities have surfaced in this entrance exam, for medical colleges across the country.In contrast, the JEE, for admission into premier engineering colleges, has seen far fewer controversies. How is the conduct of JEE different from NEET, and why do they not follow the same pattern?What are NEET and JEE?According to the National Testing Agency (NTA) which conducts the exams, NEET UG, for admission to undergraduate medical education in all medical institutions, is conducted in pen and paper mode. The exam is held in 13 languages: English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) MAIN, meanwhile, is for admission to Centrally Funded Technical Institutes. Students who clear JEE MAIN are then eligible to sit for JEE Advanced, for admission to IITs.The first stage of IIT-JEE, called JEE (Mains) is conducted by NTA, with some involvement of the IITs. The second stage, JEE (Advanced), is handled entirely by the IITs themselves.What is the difference in how NEET and JEE are held?The two main differences in how the exams are held is that more students take NEET than JEE, and JEE is a computer-based exam instead of pen and paper.An online test removes several vulnerabilities from the examination process, like the possibility of question paper leak during transport and distribution to the centres. It also reduces the involvement of outside agencies such as a printing press or a transport company.Story continues below this adThen why can’t NEET also be computer-based?There are two main hurdles to implementing a computer-based NEET-UG examination.First, a very small number of centres are equipped to conduct computer-based tests. With NEET-UG being one of the biggest competitive examinations in India in term of the number of applications — around 23 lakh students appear every year — there aren’t enough centres to accommodate them. To compare, around 14 lakh students appear for the JEE.The NTA can conduct computer-based tests for only about 1.5 lakh students in a single shift. This would mean the NEET-UG would have to be conducted over at least 15 shifts and a period of weeks.Second, if the testing is conducted over several shifts, the process of normalisation would be a challenge. “While there exists a process to normalise question papers across several shifts, as is done with examinations such as JEE, it will be very difficult to do so across multiple shifts and will lead to litigations and delay the admission process,” said an official from the health ministry.Story continues below this adTo ensure fairness across shifts, questions for an examination are divided into different levels of difficulty, with a statistical process determining that each paper contains a certain percentage of questions from these different levels. The official added: “When it comes to engineering, many seats go vacant every year. The stakes are not as high as medicine.”Another official from the health ministry said that this was also in line with the indication given by the Supreme Court. After irregularities in NEET-UG 2024, there were also “rumours” of NEET-PG paper leak, which led to its postponement. The National Board of Examinations under the health ministry, which conducts the NEET-PG test, decided to conduct it only in the most trusted testing centres across two shifts. Litigations, however, led to the Supreme Court directing that the examination be conducted in a single shift and it proceeded as it used to.Are computer-based tests secure?While there have been irregularities even in computer-based tests, they are generally more secure.The question papers for these tests are not prepared by any single person. A bank of questions of varying difficulty is prepared by several experts and the system chooses the questions on its own, based on a blueprint of what type of questions and how many of them are needed. And, the question paper opens at the designated time across examination centres together, removing the likelihood of it being leaked from one centre to others.Story continues below this adThere is no physical transportation of these papers. The second official quoted above said: “When the papers are being transported physically across the country, there are multiple points of leak no matter how much security is put in place. It can leak from the printing agencies or simply a vehicle that is transporting it.” They added: “NEET is an extremely high-stakes examination, meaning there are always people who are willing to pay to get the paper.”Why is NEET so prone to leaks?The NEET-UG examination, which is the only way for students to get admission to a medical course, remains extremely competitive. Nearly 23 lakh students appear around 1 lakh medical seats across the country. The competition is fierce, considering students strive to get into government colleges that account for around half the medical seats. These colleges have a much lower fee structure than private medical colleges, where the fee may run into crores.Another aspect, experts pointed out, was the coaching industry. With the coaching industry mushrooming across the country, there is an incentive for classes to pay to get question papers. “After all, the admissions for their next batch would depend on how many of their students get through the admission process,” said an expert, on condition of anonymity.After the 2024 NEET-UG irregularities, admission of 14 students was cancelled, candidature of 215 was put on hold, 26 students already enrolled in medical courses who participated in the malpractice were suspended, and several were debarred from taking the test for two to three years.Anonna Dutt is a Principal Correspondent who writes primarily on health at the Indian Express. She reports on myriad topics ranging from the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to the problems with pervasive infectious conditions. She reported on the government’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic and closely followed the vaccination programme. Her stories have resulted in the city government investing in high-end tests for the poor and acknowledging errors in their official reports. Dutt also takes a keen interest in the country’s space programme and has written on key missions like Chandrayaan 2 and 3, Aditya L1, and Gaganyaan. She was among the first batch of eleven media fellows with RBM Partnership to End Malaria. She was also selected to participate in the short-term programme on early childhood reporting at Columbia University’s Dart Centre. Dutt has a Bachelor’s Degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. She started her reporting career with the Hindustan Times. When not at work, she tries to appease the Duolingo owl with her French skills and sometimes takes to the dance floor. ... Read More © The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Express Explained