Nitin Kukreja, CEO of ALLEN Career Institute, has called on students not to be disheartened following the cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) UG exam due to an alleged paper leak.

Speaking on Tuesday, Kukreja advocated for reforms in the examination system and suggested that NEET should adopt a computer-based test model similar to the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE).

In an interview with ANI, Kukreja stressed the responsibility of the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct secure and transparent re-tests. “My only suggestion to students is: do not get disheartened. Tune out the external noise and prepare just as diligently, if not more so, than you did for the previous exam; hope for the best…It is the NTA’s responsibility to identify anyone who has engaged in wrongdoing and ensure they face exemplary punishment. Furthermore, they must ensure that the re-test is completely free of glitches or irregularities. It must be conducted as securely and transparently as possible so that everyone’s faith, specifically the faith of every child, is restored,” he said.

Comparing NEET and JEE formats, Kukreja noted, “The JEE examination is conducted as a Computer-Based Test. We need to consider whether the NEET examination should also be conducted similarly. It is high time to think very seriously about this. In a pen-and-paper examination, there are bound to be numerous logistical issues, which means the chances of a leak will always persist. In the JEE examination, however, since it is broken down into multiple sections or multiple distinct exams (e.g., Section 1 and Section 2), there are significant advantages. The stress on the student is reduced; if they miss one opportunity, they get a second chance; if not the second, then a third. Even if a capable student does not perform well in the ‘Main’ exam, they still have the opportunity to excel in the ‘Advanced’ exam. A deserving student secures admission to a good college while simultaneously minimising the risk of leaks.”