From 2019, students will get to sit for JEE-MAIN & NEET twice a year

In a historic decision as it is being dubbed by Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar, students aspiring to become engineers and doctors have got a double bonanza offer from the Government. However, political experts have opined that the move is mainly aimed at wooing first-time voters in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

It may prove to be a great relief to students preparing for engineering and medical entrance examinations as the Government has decided to conduct both Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main and National Eligibility cum Entrance Examination (NEET) two times a year from 2019 onwards.

Both the examinations will be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which was formed by the Human Resource Development Ministry to offload the exam conducting burden of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). At present, the Central Board of Secondary Education is the nodal agency responsible for organising the Joint Entrance Examination Main and National Eligibility cum Entrance Examination examinations.

According to the Human Resource Development Minister, the decision would let students appear in the entrance examination if they fail to appear in the first attempt or are not satisfied by their score in the first attempt. “Students would not have to wait for another year to appear if they fail to clear or appear in JEE or NEET as the second round of the entrance exam would be conducted by NTA after a gap of just a few months,” Javadekar said, adding that the JEE Main exams would be held in January and April while NEET would be held in February and May.

Explaining the operational modalities of the National Testing Agency, Higher Education Secretary R Subramanyam said, “If students want to take both the attempts, they will have to pay the entrance fee for both the attempts. The registration of one attempt will be valid for that particular attempt.”

Apart from NEET and JEE Main, the NTA will also conduct the National Eligibility Test (NET), Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) and Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT) exams from now on. According to the minister, candidates who will be appearing for these tests will be allowed to use the best score from the examinations in the counselling process and there would be no change in syllabus, question formats, language and fees for the exams.

“The exams will be more secure and at par with international norms. There will be no issues of leakage and it will be more a student-friendly, open, scientific and a leak-proof system,” Javadekar told reporters.