Thiruvananthapuram (Keralam) [India], July 1 : Keralam Higher Education Minister Roji M John on Wednesday said the state Assembly has passed a resolution seeking reforms in the national examination system, citing concerns over repeated paper leaks, alleged lapses in the conduct of examinations, and the growing distress among students.
Speaking to reporters here, John said the resolution reflects the concerns of students and parents across the country regarding the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and several other national-level entrance examinations.
"It is a serious matter before us because we have seen continuous paper leaks. In the last three years, we have seen that many students are committing suicide. Everybody is worried about the situation in the country today. This raises serious concerns about the way NTA is operating, the way they are performing," the minister said, adding that the state Assembly decided to adopt the resolution as it represented the sentiments of the people.
"So that is why we brought a resolution inside the Assembly because that reflects the aspirations, that reflects the actual feelings of the students and parents of this country," John said.
The minister also spoke about the Keralam government's plans to strengthen the state's higher education sector, saying the objective of making Keralam a higher education hub would require sustained efforts.
"This is not something that we can do overnight. We'll require a lot of effort. We have a long way to go," he said.
Referring to the state's budget, John said the government has outlined several initiatives aimed at improving higher education infrastructure and attracting students.
"The budget itself talks a lot about making Kerala a higher education hub. If you see the projects announced in the Kerala budget, that speaks volumes about it," he added.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Keralam Legislative Assembly passed a resolution urging the Centre to undertake comprehensive reforms in the national examination system, with the state's Higher Education Minister Roji M John citing repeated irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and other competitive examinations as a serious threat to the credibility of the country's entrance examination framework.
Moving the resolution in the 16th legislative Assembly, Roji M John said repeated reports of question paper leaks, examination malpractice, technical failures and irregularities in evaluation had eroded public confidence in NEET.
"The House is discussing this resolution at a time when the credibility of the NEET examination has come under serious question due to repeated reports of question paper leaks, examination malpractice, administrative and technical failures at examination centres, and irregularities in evaluation and result publication. These developments have raised grave concerns about the transparency, fairness and integrity of one of the country's most important national entrance examinations," the minister said.