NEET-UG mock drills underway across centres ahead of May 4 entrance
New Delhi (PTI): Mock drills were conducted at all NEET-UG centres on Saturday to ensure smooth conduct of the nationwide medical entrance, according to an official source.
The crucial exam is scheduled for May 4 at 5,453 centres in over 500 cities across the country. This year, over 22.7 lakh candidates have registered for the exam.
"There will be three layers of monitoring on the exam day – at the District, State, and Centre levels," a Ministry of Education (MoE) source said.
Most of the centres this year are located in government and government-aided schools, colleges, universities, and institutions.
"To ensure smooth and secure conduct of the exam, mock drills are being conducted at all centres. These drills will help test readiness in terms of functionality of mobile signal jammers; availability of adequate manpower for frisking; and biometric authentication procedures," the source said.
The ministry has said that candidates found indulging in unfair means – before, during, or after the examination – will be booked under Unfair Means (UFM) and penalised accordingly.
"The penalties include debarment of up to three years from appearing in NTA exams (based on severity) and criminal and/or legal action under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024," said the person.
The strict measures come a year after alleged irregularities including paper-leak were flagged in NEET which put the integrity of the exam under scanner.
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Bill to set up single higher education regulator likely to be tabled in Parliament next week
New Delhi (PTI): A Bill which seeks to set up a single regulator for institutions of higher education is required to facilitate universities and other higher educational institutes become independent and self-governing, officials said.
The Bill is likely to be introduced in Parliament next week after it got the Union Cabinet's nod on Friday.
The proposed legislation, which was earlier christened the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill, has now been named Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill.
A single higher education regulator, which was proposed in the new National Education Policy (NEP), looks to replace the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).
"The Bill proposes to set up a Higher Education Commission of India to facilitate universities and other higher educational institutes become independent and self-governing institutions and to promote excellence through a robust and transparent system of accreditation and autonomy. It is likely to be introduced (in Parliament) in the coming week," an official said.
While the UGC presently oversees non-technical higher education in the country, the AICTE oversees technical education, while the NCTE is the regulatory body for teachers' education.
The Commission is proposed to be set up as a single higher education regulator, but medical and law colleges will not be brought under its ambit.
It is proposed to have three major roles -- regulation, accreditation and setting professional standards, officials said.
Funding, which is seen as the fourth vertical, is not proposed to be under the regulator so far. The autonomy for funding is proposed to be with the administrative ministry, they said.
