Will NEET 2021 be held twice a year? Discussion still on
New Delhi: The speculations of holding the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) twice a year has come to the forefront again as the National Testing Agency has recently informed that such a proposal is under "active consideration". However, there are no such plans for this year, it has been clarified as well.
Such a confirmation has come from NTA Director General Vineet Joshi, who has recently told India TV that the matter was still on the table and was under discussion.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that previously a senior official in the medical education department of the Union Health Ministry had indicated towards a general agreement for conducting NEET entrance test twice a year.
Also Read: NEET 2021 To Be Conducted Twice A Year, Health Ministry Gives Green Signal: Report
Later Amit Khare, Secretary of the Higher Education Department had clarified that there were no plans for any alterations in conducting NEET 2021.
However, the demands for increasing the attempts for NEET started increasing when the Education Ministry announced that it would offer four chances a year for the aspirants of JEE-Main 2021 onwards.
The discussion for holding NEET two times a year started when Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank was heading the Ministry of Education.
As per the latest media report by News 18, earlier the Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) had also written a letter to the then Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal seeking multiple attempts at NEET.
"It is heartening to see that the National Testing Agency will be conducting the JEE for engineering institutions four times this year, giving each student multiple attempts to give their best possible performance, and also allowing for students impacted by health and other concerns to skip a test without having to drop a whole year. A similar decision must be taken for other "high-stakes" exams, including at least NEET and CLAT for medical and law colleges respectively," the letter had mentioned.
India TV reports that in a recent conversation with the daily, NTA Director-General Vineet Joshi has informed that the matter is still being discussed. However, no such plans are for 2021.
"This is under active consideration and is being discussed. Final call rests with the Health Ministry," Joshi told India TV.
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is the uniform entrance examination for medical education. This year, the exam is scheduled to be held on September 12.
Also Read: NEET 2021: NTA extends application period, notifies on Correction Window
