Students spend months and years preparing for exams, families relocate to cities to be closer to their centre, and on the morning of the exams, they are faced with the news of how pathetic the Indian Education System has become, truly unruly.
In the early days of May this year, NEET was conducted in several centres nationwide. However, what followed after the declaration of the result a month later was a shame. It came to people’s attention that they had been rather careless in conducting the exam. 
From errors in the question paper and allowing grace marks to rectify this situation to a high number of candidates (67) scoring a perfect 720 score, which is rather impossible in NEET; not just this, there was a leak in the question papers, with 4 people arrested in the same scandal, in Bihar.
The recent NEET Scam has brought attention to the great loss that a candidate endures throughout the process of taking a competitive exam. It is even under all normal circumstances that a candidate and their family go through heaven knows what all, and then with the incidents of paper leaks and cheats coming forward, it truly rots the soul of the candidate.
Not just NEET, there was also a last-minute change in the UGC- CUET that was conducted in May – June, with an uncertainty with the addresses and a threat to the integrity of the conduction of exams.
It has been a practice of the Indian Educational System to conduct entrance as well as competitive exams to refine and choose wisely the well-deserving candidates. Any student who wishes to study medical science must go through NEET, any student who even wishes to undergo graduation must go through CUCET-UG, and any eligible candidate for any government job faces the entrance exam to achieve their goal.
This year alone, over 24,00,000 students appeared for NEET, for some 1,10,000 seats. Out of these 1.1 Lakh seats, up to 60,000 are seats in the government colleges for medical science.Â
For every candidate belonging to the middle-class section of society or from rural areas, it is truly the one thing they keep in mind while applying and preparing for NEET, to be able to crack it to get into a government college, as government colleges provide education in 1/10th of the fees levied by private institutions.
In the past five years, over 41 paper leaks have been reported, as published. These leaks have caused immense disadvantages to the candidate.
For any competitive exam, it’s not just turning up for the exam, back goes months, sometimes years of practice and revision. In rural areas, families send their children for coaching, as well as computer training, this itself adds to the cost they have to bear.
For people who even have the skills that are required, centres are usually assigned far away from their residences. So while a candidate is taking an exam, their family members or acquaintances wait outside in the surging heat.Â
The leakage of misconduct in exams here causes several challenges. Recruitment Exams have been severely affected due to the leaks, and this hinders the future of many.
The UP Constable Recruitment and Promotion Exam Leak of 2023, The REET Exam Leak and The TSPSC Assistant Engineer Exam Leak are just three examples of the several leakages that have occurred in the future.
These exams are always cancelled with a proclamation of conducting them again, however, this does not solve the issue of what all a candidate might’ve gone through while appearing even for the first exam.
Instances like these always hamper career plans and then cause uncertainty in the minds, which can lead to a rather distressful mental state.
It is truly a disappointment that even after all these years, we still haven’t developed a system where a candidate has to worry simply about performing well, and not about the other things.
The structure of the exams has to be designed and framed in a better way, as they don’t challenge the skill sets of an individual. These exams don’t evaluate a candidate on every level.
The National Testing Agency ( NTA) has continuously failed to provide students with a fair chance to perform and showcase their skill sets in the right and just way.Â
As discussed, in recent years, several of the high-profile exams conducted by the NTA, including NEET, JEE, and UGC exams, have all been marred by controversy, be it paper leaks, technical glitches, even as stupid a reason as errors in the question paper, which simply grows to prove as a major disadvantage to the candidate, as it not only creates confusion in the minds of students but also creates an atmosphere of anxiety and stress, leading to self-doubts and ultimately an underperforming candidate.
The Supreme Court, when petitioned for re-examination, it was only a little over 50% of students who re-appeared, others had lost hope and so, never showed up.
Students dedicate themselves to these exams, however, due to such instances, they’re left in a rather disillusioned and anxious situation about their prospects and future.Â
The NTA’s repeated failures not only raise questions about the credibility of the Indian Educational System but also it influence career aspirations, and the students who face the ugly side of leaks, have to appear again next year, with an event more crowded and competitive bundle of students.
However one wishes to go about it, it is truly a disgrace for a developing country like India, where leaders take oaths for the betterment of people and the same leaders refuse to even acknowledge when responsibility calls.
