Students, experts differ over errors in NEET questions

The problems with regard to the undergraduate National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), for entry into medical and dental seats across the country, is not yet over.

The results of the test are likely to be declared in a week. However, students are anxious about some “errors” in the questions. The answer keys to the exam were released on August 8.

Ashwin Shetty, an MBBS seat aspirant who had appeared for both, NEET-1 on May 1 and NEET-2 on July 24 checked the answer keys as soon they were out. He noticed that there were some discrepancies.

“I realised that there were a few errors in the questions after the answer keys were made public. I found one in biology where the answer that was given was not correct,” he said. For every right answer, a student gets four marks and there is one negative mark for a wrong answer. “Even a single mark can lead to a great difference in the rankings as thousands of students have written the exam and there is fierce competition,” said Shetty.

Students across the country have pointed out a few errors in the chemistry section and one in biology. The CBSE had given students time till August 10 to file objections, if any.

Allaying the fears of students, Dr G Sridhar, managing director, Ace Creative Learning Pvt Ltd, a coaching institute, said that there were two questions in biology and one in chemistry that may have “seemed ambiguous” and led to confusion.

“The reason for this confusion is because of the manner in which the question has been phrased and not really an error per se. Any student who has had a conceptual understanding would have handled it with ease and I don't really see it as an error,” opined Dr Sridhar.