National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) director Dinesh Prasad Saklani has dismissed the claims of the National Testing Agency (NTA) which said that the questions in the NEET UG 2024 exam were 'out of syllabus'. As per a report in the Deccan Herald, Mr Saklani asserted that there was no truth in the statement made by the NTA regarding the 'out of syllabus questions' in the undergraduate medical entrance exam.
Addressing a media conference at Regional Institute of Education (RIE) of NCERT, Mysore on Monday, Mr Saklani said that the revised textbooks of NCERT, from 2020, were available in both print and online and he was not aware why those, who framed the questions, referred to the pre-2020 textbooks.
What is the NCERT book controversy?
Nearly 44 top scorers in the NEET UG 2024 exam answered a basic Physics question incorrectly based on NCERT old book. The NTA awarded the marks to all the students who answered both options directing that the students should not be penalised for using NCERT textbooks for NEET preparation. These students gained extra marks due to an older version of the NCERT class 12 textbooks. The incorrect answer was disputed by over 13,000 students after the release of the answer key on May 29, 2024. Candidates disputed against the provisional answer key maintaining that students who did not answer the question over fear of negative marking have a disadvantage over others.
Meanwhile, the NTA had earlier scrapped the grace marks awarded to 1,563 NEET-UG 2024 candidates at six centres across the country. These students can opt for a re-test on June 23, the results of which will be declared on June 30.
The Supreme Court today came down heavily on the NTA maintaining that it should deal with even 0.001% negligence in the NEET UG exam.
Speaking to PTI, the NCERT director earlier also noted that 'Bharat' and 'India' will be used interchangeably in NCERT textbooks as is the case in the country's constitution.