CHENNAI: Yet another controversy has erupted over the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2017 as the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) allegedly provided two different sets of question papers to candidates who took the exam in English and Tamil.
By providing question papers with two different content, the very purpose of holding a common nation-wide entrance test was defeated, say students and medical education experts.
After being made mandatory, NEET was conducted in 10 regional languages including Tamil, Telugu and Bengali, apart from English, this year. In 2016-17, though Phase-II of the exam was conducted in only six regional languages, questions were based on the same content. “This year, all questions in the Tamil version of the question paper were different from those on the English version,” said P Shanthi, professor at a Chennai-based medical college.
According to some candidates who took it up in English, their question paper was more time-consuming and difficult. Medical aspirants complained that the question papers were based on two different syllabi.
While the English version was based on CBSE content, the Tamil version was largely based on the State board syllabus. M Kiruhika from Udumalaipet said: “Nearly 80 per cent of the questions were from State government-prescribed textbooks.”
Some State board students from Tamil medium schools opted to take the English version of the test due to shortage of Tamil preparatory materials. These were among the students who suffered the worst since they were left staring at an entirely unfamiliar set of questions. “We didn’t know the Tamil version would also carry an English translation and that the English version would be based on CBSE syllabus,” said D Geetha from Tambaram.
On the other hand, Tamil medium students from State board who took up the Tamil version found themselves in a better position. “Luckily I chose the Tamil version, which was mostly based on the State-board syllabus that I studied,” Kiruthika added.
G R Ravindranath of the Doctors Association for Social Equality (DASE) said NEET was brought to nullify differences in State board evaluations. “Preparing a common merit list after providing different syllabi and evaluations was unfair,” he added. CBSE NEET Director KK Choudhury was not available for comment.
Tamil, Kannada papers different from English
Candidates who opted to write the exam in Kannada also got questions different from those on the English paper. However, in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the questions were translated from English. Kerala chose not to have the question paper in Malayalam