The Madras High Court on Wednesday restrained the Central Board of Secondary Education from declaring the results of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (undergraduate), which were scheduled to be out on June 8, NDTV reported.
The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court’s interim injunction was based on a petition that alleged there were varying difficulty levels in the examination papers, which were conducted in 10 different languages.
A group of nine students from Madurai had asked the court to direct the Centre to cancel the test, which was conducted on May 7, claiming that the different question papers would lead to discrimination against students, NDTV reported. Justice MV Muralidaran passed the order. The students’ writ petition demanded a common question paper with several translations.
“One India, one question paper is a must in Neet. Otherwise, assessment of intelligence and aptitude will differ. Further, an uneven playing field would infringe the right to equal opportunity in education” The Hindu quoted the petition as saying.
The national exam, which allows students to take admission to medical courses, is currently held in 10 languages. These are: Hindi, English, Odia, Bengali, Assamese, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Marathi and Kannada.
In 2016, the Supreme Court had passed an order scrapping all state examinations for undergraduate admissions in medicine and dentistry. The apex court had said the Central Board of Secondary Education would be given the responsibility to conduct a single entrance test – the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!