Parliament panel to review CBSE marking, NEET and language policy

AParliamentary venire has summoned officials of the unification training ministry and the exchange room of Secondary Education (CBSE) for a June 2 meeting to discuss issues faced by students due to the on-screen marking (OSM) system in Class 12 board exams and the implementation of the three-language formula in Classes 9 and 10.The 31-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on education, women, children, youth and sports has also called officials of the National Testing Agency (NTA), the education ministry and the Union health ministry for a June 1 meeting to discuss pen-and-paper examinations versus computer-based testing (CBT), and issues relating to NEET and the NTA.According to the agenda circulated in a Rajya Sabha Secretariat notice dated May 25, the committee headed by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh will hold meetings on June 1 and June 2.On June 1, the panel will first meet at 10am to consider and adopt the “381st Report on Action Taken by the Government on the Recommendations and Observations contained in the 364th Report on Demands for Grants (2025-26) of the department of higher education, ministry of education.”At 11am, the committee will meet secretaries of the department of higher education and the health ministry, the director general of the NTA, representatives of the United Doctors Front and Dr (Major) Gulshan Garg, former orthopaedic surgeon of the Indian Air Force, “to discuss: Use of pen-and-paper testing versus CBT, and; Views pertaining to NEET and NTA”.The panel had earlier met on May 21 to review the ongoing investigation into the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and implementation of the Radhakrishnan committee’s recommendations.During that meeting, the NTA informed the panel that it was considering limiting the number of attempts and introducing an upper age limit for NEET-UG aspirants — a major policy shift for an examination that currently has no such restrictions — along with a gradual transition to computer-based testing from next year.On the investigation, the NTA told the committee that it received inputs regarding “alleged malpractice” late on May 7, escalated the matter to central agencies on May 8, and cancelled the examination on May 12. The re-test is scheduled for June 21.On June 2, the committee will meet school education secretary Sanjay Kumar and CBSE chairperson Rahul Singh “to review: use of OSM in Class 12 CBSE exams and issues faced by students consequently, and; Application of three language formula in Class 9 and 10.”The move comes amid complaints from students and parents over technical glitches in the CBSE post-result services portal and concerns regarding lower-than-expected marks under the new digital evaluation system.A four-member expert team from Indian Institute of Technology Madras and Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur has been assigned to assist the CBSE in resolving problems linked to the re-evaluation process and the OSM system.The concerns surfaced after the CBSE declared Class 12 results on May 13, with the overall pass percentage dropping to 85.20%, down from 88.39% last year — the lowest since 2019.In a circular issued on May 15, the CBSE mandated the study of three languages, including at least two native Indian languages, for students of Classes 9 and 10 from July 1, extending a scheme already made compulsory for Class 6 students.The board, however, clarified that “no student will be barred from appearing in the Class X Board Examinations” due to the third language requirement. The move nevertheless took many school heads by surprise.“The way the Ministry of Education is functioning is highly impractical. Take the NEET issue, for example. It is quite strange that the entire country is saying there was a paper leak, but the NTA is saying that no leak occurred. It’s a strange situation. We have heard that they are maintaining that there was no leak. Then what happened? Why are they conducting a re-examination? Now, OSM was used once in 2014 and was found to be impractical. In 2017, the University of Mumbai also implemented it and found it impractical. So when it has already failed twice, why are you experimenting with the students of the CBSE across the country?” Singh told reporters.