On June 4th, as millions of Indians were glued to their televisions watching the Lok Sabha election results, a different kind of drama was unfolding in the world of education. Alakh Pandey, founder of the edtech firm Physics Wallah, was engrossed in analyzing the results of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), a crucial exam for aspiring medical students. The results had been announced earlier that day, and what Pandey saw left him baffled, as it did Saurabh Pant, co-founder of the coaching center Sri Gosalites Medical Academy in Vijayawada. A staggering 67 students had achieved a perfect score of 720 out of 720, a feat that seemed statistically improbable, as typically only a handful of students manage to score full marks. This anomaly, coupled with reports of discrepancies in student scores, ignited a storm of controversy.
Concerns about the NEET results quickly escalated. The Indian Medical Association Junior Doctors’ Network wrote to the NTA, the body responsible for conducting the exam, expressing deep skepticism about the high number of perfect scores. The letter questioned how 6-7 of these perfect scorers hailed from a single center in Haryana. Students, meanwhile, discovered discrepancies between their calculated scores and the final results declared by the NTA, leading to allegations of paper leaks at certain centers. Many students received grace marks due to delays in the exam commencement at specific centers, further complicating the situation.
The controversy sparked a wave of protests across India. Students and parents, armed with their calculated scores and stories of unfairness, reached out to coaching centers, shared their grievances on social media platforms, and sought the support of influencers. Legal action followed, with petitions filed in the Supreme Court demanding accountability from the NTA. Alakh Pandey, through his social media channels, became a prominent voice in the protests, highlighting the anomalies and demanding transparency. The scale of the NEET exam, with 2.4 million students appearing across 4,750 centers in India and abroad, underscored the gravity of the situation.
Student bodies like the All India Students’ Association (AISA) and the Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) actively engaged in the protests, organizing students and providing legal support. Manas Sharma, a 17-year-old aspiring medical student, became a face of the movement. His calculated score of 610 was drastically reduced to 468 in the official results, leaving him devastated. The premature declaration of results on the same day as the Lok Sabha election results further fueled suspicion. The question of why the results were declared 10 days earlier than expected, when the media was preoccupied with the election, raised concerns about a deliberate attempt to overshadow the controversy.
The impact of the NEET results controversy extended far beyond academic concerns. The mental health of students, particularly those who had dedicated years to preparing for the exam, was severely affected. Roshan Mohiddin, national secretary of the SIO, revealed that a survey of 600 students across India showed that 73.2% of them had suffered significant mental health consequences due to the discrepancies. The survey also revealed that 51% of students had detected errors in their scores, while 64.8% faced issues at the exam centers, including delayed starts.
For many students, the financial implications of the situation were equally daunting. The cost of private medical education is exorbitantly high, rendering it an impossible option for families from lower-income backgrounds. The prospect of taking another year to prepare for NEET, with the added pressure of potentially missing out on a government college seat due to age restrictions, added to the anxiety. The story of a Mumbai-based father, whose daughter had achieved a score significantly lower than her calculated score, highlighted the dire situation many families faced. Unable to afford private college fees, he and his family were left in a state of despair.
The controversy also highlighted the role of coaching institutes in the NEET landscape. While some institutions provided support and counseling to their students, others faced the challenge of managing the disappointment and uncertainty surrounding the exam results. Sri Gosalites Medical Academy, which coached over 5,000 students, saw a sharp drop in the number of students who qualified for government college seats. Saurabh Pant, the co-founder, lamented the impact on the aspirations of students and their families, who had invested significant resources and hopes in their medical dreams.
As the controversy unfolded, social media influencers, particularly those connected to the education sector, played a vital role in amplifying student voices. Mitali Sharma, a final-year MBBS student, shared her own experience with the NEET exam and highlighted the potential repercussions of a re-test, leaving students who had scored well uncertain about their future. In Kota, known as the ‘coaching hub’ for competitive exams, students reached out to content creators, seeking support and sharing their stories of disappointment.
The NTA, facing mounting pressure, held press conferences and met with students to explain its actions. The agency claimed that the advancement of the results was due to the availability of scores and that the high number of perfect scores was a result of a revised answer key for a physics question. The NTA also attributed grace marks to delays at exam centers, citing CCTV footage and reports from functionaries. However, the NTA and the education ministry did not respond to requests for clarification on specific issues raised by students and media outlets.
The Supreme Court, taking cognizance of the widespread concerns, consolidated various petitions filed against the NTA. The court, on June 13th, ordered the cancellation of grace marks awarded to 1,536 students, informing them of their actual scores and offering them the option of a re-test. The court also issued notices to the Centre and the NTA, seeking explanations on pleas demanding a CBI probe into the allegations of paper leaks.
Amidst the ongoing legal and administrative proceedings, the government pledged transparency and accountability. Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan assured the public that the NTA would be held accountable and those responsible for any irregularities would not be spared. The 2.4 million students who took the NEET exam anxiously await the outcome of the investigations, hoping for justice and a resolution to the controversy that has cast a shadow over their aspirations and dreams.
