JOIN USNorms did not permit holding NEET in Kannada, say officials
Central government officials have said that Kannada could not be considered as one of the languages to write National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in 2017-18 because of the norms followed to select the regional languages for the screening test for undergraduate medical course.
Earlier this week, the health ministry announced that NEET for undergraduate courses in 2017-18 would be conducted in eight languages Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Telegu, Tamil, Hindi and English.
Officials in New Delhi said the language choice was based on two criteria – the state had to conduct a medical entrance examination in the vernacular language at least for three years and there should be a lexicon of medical terms in that language. These norms were worked out in consultation with a number of experts and state officials to ensure availability of teachers, who can examine the copies in these languages.
“Karnataka never conducted the medical entrance examination in Kannada. The state officials who attended the health ministry meeting on November 25 through video conferencing did not raise any objections. They were satisfied with English as the preferred language for writing the NEET,” sources told DH.
The controversy flared up with the surfacing of a letter from Jawaid Akhtar, principal secretary, Medical Education, Karnataka to the Union health secretary C K Mishra, requesting him to ensure that NEET is conducted in Kannada too.
Akhtar's letter dated December 14, 2016 was signed on December 20 and despatched on December 22. The health ministry sent its instruction to the Central Board of Secondary Education, which would conduct the NEET, on December 8, sources said.
Akhtar told DH in Bengaluru that when Mishra held a video conferencing seeking the state governments the necessity of conducting NEET in the regional languages, Karnataka had sought time to obtain approval of the state government before sending the request to the Centre.
Akhtar said, “CET in Karnataka has never been conducted in Kannada as none of the students are desirous of a Kannada question paper. The state government, however, felt that the students should nevertheless be given an option. We are keenly pursuing this issue. So far, we have not received any complaints from the students.”
Sources in the Union government said the language decision was taken way back in 2013 before conducting the first NEET. While the first nation-wide medical entrance test was a limited affair because of legal objections, the entrance examination could not be held in the next two years due to a verdict of the Supreme Court that ruled against the NEET.
After a favourable order from the apex court, the examination was re-started in 2016. As NEET was held at a short notice in 2016, only Hindi and English were considered then. It was decided that other languages would be included during subsequent exams.