Expert committee proposes 50:50 weightage formula for NEET, JEE

NEW DELHI: It was revealed that a 50:50 weightage formula will be introduced for NEET and JEE entrance exams, considering both Plus Two and Class 12 results. An expert committee appointed by the central government suggested this formula. The suggestion is that 50 per cent of the score obtained in the Class 12 exam should be considered while preparing the rank list for entrance exams. This model is followed in KEEM, the entrance exam in Kerala.

Currently, the rank list is prepared only based on the score obtained in NEET for medical admission and JEE for engineering admission. The minimum qualification to appear for the JEE exam is to secure 75% marks in class 12 and 50% marks in NEET. The new proposal suggests that the effort put in by students to achieve great results in school academics will also be taken into consideration. The total score will be calculated by adding 50% of the score in the class 12 exam and 50% of the score in the entrance exam. The recommendation is that the NEET and JEE rank lists should be published based on that. The report was prepared by a 9-member expert committee headed by Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi.

The reform was proposed keeping in mind the mental stress of students, surging suicide among students, and question paper leaks. The committee also wanted a special law to be brought to address the shortcomings in the country's entrance examination system. The proposal to include topics of the school syllabus as questions in the entrance examination was among those included in the report that is likely to be submitted to the Centre soon.