NEET: How exam scandals are tainting India’s most competitive tests

Kavya Mukhija spent hours last year taking an important government-run test for entry-level teaching positions at Indian universities, which was a searing day in Delhi.

The 25-year-old independent researcher and illness campaigner uses a wheelchair because she had a rare congenital situation with tight joints and found the exam room difficult to access. The center itself did not possess a wheelchair, and the rocky ramps were dug up outside.

If all this was not enough, a ruder surprise awaited her.

Authorities canceled the UGC- NET, as the test is known, after the four-hour test, which had been administered to over 900, 000 candidates in more than 300 cities while her caregiver mother was waiting outside in the blazing heat.

The integrity of the interview may have been compromised, according to a mysterious statement from the education ministry. Minister Dharmendra Pradhan acknowledged the leaks of the problem report on the “dark net” and the social media platform Telegram a day later.

” I feel quite unhappy. For me, it’s like a triple whammy. I do n’t believe I’ll be able to pass this exam once more, Kavya said to me.

Nearly 1, 000km ( 600 miles ) away in the city of Patna, Archit Kumar faces a similar challenge.

In May, the 19- year- ancient aspiring doctor sat for a 200- second global government- run academic exam where 2.4 million aspirants competed for over 110, 000 health college seats.

A scandal erupted shortly after the exam – four people were arrested in Bihar state for allegedly leaking the question papers of what is called the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET-UG exam.

There were widespread allegations of cheating, with many candidates scoring suspiciously high marks. Aspirants openly reported being cold-called by touts demanding up to 3m rupees ($35,918; £28,384) for question papers just hours before the exam. Some even recorded the calls as evidence.

Many students and parents are demanding a re-test, with numerous petitions filed in courts for the purpose – and the Supreme Court is examining this. Mr Pradhan ordered an investigation and admitted “some errors limited to specific regions” had happened. He said the fate of millions of aspirants would not be held hostage for “some isolated incidents”.

None of this amenities Archit.

He had avoided even making friends for the past two decades and had avoided engaging in social life, studying 12 hours per day for one of the most economical test in the world. Scoring 620 out of the last 720 markings, he secured an every- India level of 53, 000.

” This has come as a surprise. There’s a lot of stress. This year, a friend of mine sat for the test for the second time in a row. Imagine his condition. Imagine having to pass a exam. I have forgotten so many things”, says Archit.

India’s assessment technique is in conflict. In truth, tests have long been plagued by cheating and document leaks. But then, big test managed by the condition- run National Testing Agency (NTA ), including those taken by Kavya and Archit, appear compromised. 3.5 million hopeful candidates ‘ prospects have been in danger as a result of alleged paper spills and manipulated scores in these exams in the past month. Last year, three different people tests conducted by the government were sometimes cancelled or postponed, affecting another 1.3 million individuals.

” Things have gotten worse. There’s a mob- like galaxy of instructors, touts and people who run test centres which is creating this condition”, says Maheshwer Peri, an educationist who has been tracking sheet leaks.

Mr Peri says touts usually call aspirants, demanding settlement for question papers, maybe even accepting post- dated cheques. They advance the candidates ‘ exams ‘ papers and provide them with solved answers to memorize. Touts gather applicants’ online credentials to obtain their computers mildly and answer questions on their behalf during online exams.

Points are worse in state examination. In a society where most positions are mostly casual, anxious, and low-paying, query papers for different local government recruitment exams are usually leaked.

Recruitment exams for policemen, foresters, engineers, veterinarians and income-tax inspectors have been affected by leaks in the past. Papers have been leaked on WhatsApp, and stolen from storerooms. Suspects have hacked into servers of private companies handling exams. In 2022, Delhi police busted a major online cheating ring, helping candidates to cheat in top exams. They had hired Russian hackers to develop undetectable software, allowing them to remotely hack computers in exam centres.

Earlier this year The Indian Express newspaper investigated an astonishing 41 documented instances of paper leaks in recruitment exams over the past five years across 15 states, led by governments of different parties.

Some 14 million applicants competing for just over 100 000 posts had their schedules affected by the leaks, according to the study. Things have been so bad that paper leaks became a hot- button issue in states like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana during recent elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party, led by PM Narendra Modi, is now in charge of the majority of the country.

In 2015, the most audacious exam cheating scandal rocked Vyapam, a government office in Madhya Pradesh overseeing more than 50 exams for government jobs and local medical colleges.

Question papers were leaked, answer sheets rigged, impersonators- themselves bright, young students- were hired to sit for candidates and seats were sold to the highest bidder. Complicit teachers filled incomplete sheets, boosting grades.

According to Mr. Peri,” We have created an education system that encourages such fraud.”

For one, there is a yawning gap between demand from students and supply of seats, coupled with concerns over affordability.

The enormous pressure and fierce competition highlighted by the fact that 2.4 million students competed for only 110, 000 seats in medical school this year. Of these some 55, 000- 60, 000 seats are in government- run colleges, with the remainder in private institutions. These seats are primarily reserved for underprivileged students.

A five-year MBBS course at a government college costs between 500, 000 and 1 million rupees, while private colleges can cost up to ten times that much.

Many people think this is largely responsible for India’s joblessness crisis. ” This is largely a skills crisis”, economist Karthik Muralidharan notes in his new book, Accelerating India’s Development. ” Millions of educated youth are unemployed, yet employers struggle to find adequately skilled manpower”.

Many students lack understanding of subjects and practical skills that employers value, owing to the educational system’s emphasis on passing exams through cramming. According to Mr. Muralidharan, improving skill development and vocational education would be better for India’s young people. He also makes a strong case for reforming the exam system to capture both students ‘ skills and knowledge as well as their rankings and marks.

For the moment, the government has promised a rigorous probe into the latest scandals and Mr Pradhan, the minister, has taken “moral responsibility” for the loss of faith among students.

Much more needs to be done. It’s unclear if a new anti-cheating law for government jobs and college entrance exams has been a deterrent. Mr Peri questions why authorities don’t conduct basic “hygiene” checks during the compilation of exam results. He suggests that authorities should investigate any irregularities if, say, six top scorers are from one exam centre or students who performed poorly in high school top an undergraduate exam.

” That would be a basic, good start”, he says.

The students do n’t appear to be hopeful though.

” We are losing faith in our exam system”, says Archit. ” We just do n’t understand what is going on”.