Page 6 - Education Ministry

Is DU planning to teach Manusmriti to law students? What edu minister said

DU Manusmriti row: Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan clarified that there was no question of teaching any controversial portion of any script in the syllabus

Education minister Pradhan meets NEET aspirants amid uncertainty over exam

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday met some NEET aspirants at his residence, amid a raging row over alleged irregularities in the conduct of the medical entrance exam this year. According to sources, the students raised issues like the uncertainty prevailing over the fate of the exam which was conducted in May, the delay in the counselling process and ultimately the academic calendar. While there have been demand for a restest from several quarters, the education ministry has maintained the incidents of paper leak were localised, and by cancelling the exam in toto it cannot jeopardise the careers of lakhs of candidates who cleared t he test fairly. The matter has also reached the Supreme Court, which on Thursday adjourned till July 18 the hearing on the clutch of petitions seeking that exam be cancelled and the test be reconducted. The petitioners have probe also sought a probe into the alleged malpractices. The ministry has informed the Supreme Court that a da

Ministry reviews guidelines for implementation of bagless days in schools

The Ministry of Education on Tuesday reviewed the NCERT guidelines for implementation of bagless days in schools and said they will be further fine-tuned, according to officials. PSS Central Institute of Vocational Education (PSSCIVE), a unit of the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), had developed comprehensive guidelines for implementing bagless days and make learning in schools more joyful, experiential and stress-free for students. "Various suggestions were discussed during the meeting, including sensitising students about the local ecology, teaching them to test water purity, recognising local flora and fauna, and visiting local monuments. Based on this review, PSSCIVE will further fine-tune and finalise its guidelines," a senior MoE official said. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 had recommended that all students in grades 6-8 participate in a 10-day bagless period. During this time, students will intern with local skill experts and engage

NEET PG 2024 exam, postponed last month, to be held on August 11. Details

NEET-PG 2024: The Union health ministry had postponed the exam as a "precautionary measure" amid the ongoing crisis linked to the alleged mismanagement in conducting the NEET-UG 2024 examination

NEET-UG row: Supreme Court scheduled to hear batch of pleas on July 8

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on July 8 a batch of pleas related to the controversy-ridden NEET-UG, including those alleging irregularities in the examination held on May 5 and seeking a direction that it be held afresh. According to the cause list for July 8 uploaded on the apex court's website, the batch of 26 petitions would come up for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country. The NEET-UG, 2024 was held across 4,750 centres on May 5 and around 24 lakh candidates appeared in it. Initially expected on June 14, the results were announced on June 4 due to an early completion of answer-sheet evaluation. Allegations of irregularities, including paper leaks, have led to protest

NTA releases NEET re-test results, revises rank list of 1,563 candidates

The retest was held on June 23 after a controversy erupted regarding the awarding of grace marks to certain students

Class 10 West Bengal state board exams in 2025 to be held on Feb 10-22

The next year's class 10 state board examinations in West Bengal will begin on February 10, an official said. The tests conducted by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education will continue till February 22. The exams will begin at 10.45 am, WBBSE president Ramanuj Ganguly said on Friday. Marks of 12,468 candidates, who appeared for the secondary exams in 2024, went up after reviewing the answer sheets. "This thing (awarding less marks initially) should not have taken place. But the fault lies with the respective examiner," he added.

CBI searches seven locations in Gujarat in NEET-UG paper leak case

The CBI was conducting searches at seven location in Gujarat in the NEET-UG paper leak case, officials said on Saturday. They said the operation began in the morning at the premises of suspects spread across four districts -- Anand, Kheda, Ahmedabad and Godhra. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested the principal and the vice-principal of a school in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh and a journalist of a Hindi newspaper in connection with the National-Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test - Undergraduate (NEET-UG) paper leak, officials had said. Ehsanul Haque, the principal of Oasis School, was made the city coordinator of Hazaribagh for the medical entrance exam conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 5, they said. Vice-principal Imtiaz Alam was designated as the NTA's observer and the centre coordinator for Oasis School, the officials said, adding that the CBI was also questioning five more people from the district in connection with the leak. Jamaluddin Ansari

Paper leak row: NTA announces new dates for UGC-NET, CSIR-UGC NET, NCET

NCET 2024 exam to be conducted on July 10, joint CSIR-UGC NET to take place from July 25 -27, and UGC-NET June 2024 cycle to be held again between August 21 and September 4

Committee on NTA reforms to plug irregularities, engage with parents

The seven-member panel met on Monday evening, under the chairmanship of former Indian Space Research Organisation chairman K Radhakrishnan

Education Budget 2024: What did FM Sitharaman say in the past five Budgets?

Education Budget 2024: The BJP-led NDA government has steadily increased its allocation towards the education sector, focusing on skilling and digitisation. Here are highlights of the last 5 years

LIVE: CBI team probing UGC-NET case allegedly attacked in Bihar, 4 arrested

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Govt orders CBI probe into allegations of irregularities in NEET-UG exam

Education ministry takes action amidst rising concerns over exam malpractices and integrity

NTA leadership under lens, no paper leak in CSIR-NET: Dharmendra Pradhan

The "top leadership" of the National Testing Agency is under the scanner over alleged irregularities in competitive exams NEET and NET, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Saturday even as he denied any paper leak in the CSIR-UGC NET, which was postponed a day back. The minister said he is the custodian of students' interests and has to take that into account before taking any step. Amid a raging row over irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET, Pradhan had said earlier this week that he cannot jeopardise the careers of the lakhs of candidates who cleared the exam rightfully. The June edition of the Joint Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and UGC-NET was postponed on Friday night. The Joint CSIR-UGC-NET is a test conducted to determine eligibility for junior research fellowship and assistant professor and admission to PhD in science courses. "There was no leak in CSIR-UGC NET, it was postponed because of logistic issues. There is also a retest of

Centre forms high-level committee to look into functioning of NTA

Panel to recommend reforms in exam process and submit report in 2 months

Centre notifies 7-member panel to reform process of NTA-conducted exams

The Ministry of Education said Saturday it has constituted a high-level committee of experts led by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through the National Testing Agency (NTA). The seven-member committee will make recommendations on reforms in the mechanism of the examination process, improvement in data security protocols and the structure and functioning of the NTA, the Department of Higher Education in the ministry said. It added that the committee will submit its report to the ministry within two months. Central University of Hyderabad Vice-Chancellor Professor B J Rao and former director of AIIMS Delhi Randeep Guleria are on the panel.

NEET retest: 1,563 candidates to appear; NTA, govt official to be present

The NEET-UG retest for 1,563 candidates will be held on Sunday with National Testing Agency and Union education ministry officials present at the examination centres, a senior NTA official said on Friday. The retest for the medical entrance exam is being conducted after the agency withdrew grace marks awarded to students who were compensated for loss of time due to delay in start of examination at six centres in Meghalaya, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Chandigarh. Six students scored perfect 720 marks along with 61 others leading to allegations of inflation of marks. The retest will be held at seven centres -- six being new -- on Sunday. "While all other examination centres have changed, the one in Chandigarh, where only two candidates will appear, will remain the same," said the senior NTA official. "Besides, officials from the agency and the Union education ministry will also be present at these centres. The step has been taken to ensure smooth conduct of the re-exam," the

NET paper leak failure of NTA, govt to form panel to bring reforms: Pradhan

Question paper leak of UGC-NET is an "institutional failure" of National Testing Agency (NTA) and the government will set up a high-level committee to look into its functioning and recommend reforms, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced on Thursday amid a raging row over medical entrance exam NEET and cancellation of UGC-NET. "The cancellation of UGC-NET was not a knee-jerk reaction. We got proofs that the paper had leaked on darknet and was circulating on Telegram and decided to cancel the exam," Pradhan said at a press conference. "The paper leak is an institutional failure of NTA. We are assuring you that there will be a reform committee and action will be taken," he said. "The government is going to form a high-level committee regarding reforms in NTA. The committee will be expected to make recommendations to further improve NTA, its structure, functioning, examination process, transparency and data security protocols. Zero-error testing is our commitment. The .

NEET 2024: Prime accused admits to arranging exam papers for 4 candidates

In a startling revelation in the NEET paper leak case, prime accused Sikander Prasad Yadvendu in his confessional statement admitted to having arranged question papers for four exam aspirants to "prepare" them a day before the test and demanded Rs 40 lakh from each candidate. According to sources in the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar police, Yadvendu's confessional statement, recorded under Section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) on May 5, also detailed his contacts with Nitish Kumar and Amit Anand, allegedly known for leaking prestigious exam papers such as NEET. Yadvendu claimed that he demanded Rs 40 lakh from each aspirant, including his nephew Anurag Yadav, for providing the leaked question paper on May 4, a day before the exam. Yadvendu, a junior engineer at Bihar's Danapur Town Council, said, "I contacted Nitish and Amit and told them that I have four candidatesAyush Kumar, Anurag Yadav, Abhishek Kumar, and Shivnandan Kumar." Yadvendu claimed that Nitish and

Govt to form high-level committee to improve functioning of NTA: Pradhan

Calling paper leaks an institutional failure of NTA, Pradhan said that the reform committee will be notified in some days and will consist of technocrats, scientists, administrators, and academicians