Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has announced that the NEET entrance examination will be conducted online starting next year. The shift has drawn a range of responses from educators, with many seeing it as a step toward reducing malpractice.
Educationist Jayaprakash Gandhi said online testing could help curb irregularities, but stressed that rural exam centres must be ensured high-speed internet and uninterrupted power supply. He also suggested conducting a nationwide online mock test to identify practical issues, and holding NEET soon after Class 12 exams to reduce the scope for misconduct.
Lenin Bharathi welcomed computer-based testing but pointed to coaching centres as a key source of problems such as question paper leaks. He said many centres operate without any affiliation system or effective government control, and urged the Centre and states to set up a permanent monitoring mechanism and enforce mandatory quality standards for entrance-exam coaching.
Ravindranath supported the online format and called for increasing the number of exam centres. He argued that NEET should be limited to national quota seats, with state quota seats exempted, and proposed district-level free coaching centres with food and accommodation for poor students under the National Testing Agency. In contrast, Nedunchezhiyan cautioned that online exams cannot guarantee fewer frauds and may create more confusion, and said states should be allowed to conduct NEET, with the exam retained only for the 15% national quota and cancellations limited to affected states when malpractice is detected.
