Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

Bengaluru, July 14 (IANS) Bengaluru-based edtech platform Unacademy on Tuesday announced that it has led a strategic investment of $5 million (approximately Rs 37.7 crore) to acquire a majority stake in Mastree, a leading K12 learning platform. Started in October 2019, Mastree recognised the gaps in foundational learning and the challenging transition to middle school for both students and parents. Founded by Shrey Goyal and Royal Jain, the company's mission is to help bridge this gap by strengthening the foundation and inspiring students to achieve excellence. Mastree is building a one-stop subscription product for STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) courses, for classes 5-8, which will include Live Classes in small groups for mathematics, science, public speaking, creative writing, Vedic mathematics, and others. Along with Live Classes, students can also utilise various features like doubt solving, unlimited personalised practice, Live quizzes, etc. "Unacademy and Mastree have a shared vision, and together we want to create an impact and make quality education accessible and affordable," Gaurav Munjal, Co-Founder and CEO, Unacademy, said in a statement. "Mastree is building a highly impactful subscription product, and it will change the way students learn. We are very happy to have Mastree as part of the Unacademy Group." With this investment, Mastree will join the Unacademy Group, which consists of Wifistudy, Kreatryx, PrepLadder, and CodeChef. In addition to the investment, Unacademy has provided Blume Ventures an exit. --IANS gb/na

Unacademy leads $5mn investment in learning platform Mastree

<ul><li><keyword id="6503121" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="basicfirst">BasicFirst</keyword> is a Jharkhand-based edtech startup that offers test preparation courses for higher education and Olympiads.</li><li>It is planning to recruit around 1000 employees in sales profile, and 100 engineers in technology teams located in USA and India.</li><li>It will also be looking to add qualified teachers to deliver online programmes in regional languages.</li></ul>Jharkhand-based bootstrapped edtech startup BasicFirst seems to be on a hiring spree. It aims to employ more than 1000 people by the end of this year, the company said in a statement on Monday. The edtech startup announced the expansion of its workforce by four times to fuel the growth of the organisation. The e-learning platform — which provides specialised coaching classes for entrance exams like Joint Entrance Examination (<keyword id="6392660" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="JEE">JEE</keyword>), All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), National Talent Search Examination (<keyword id="75234" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="NTSE">NTSE</keyword>), National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (<keyword id="6361994" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="NEET">NEET</keyword>) and Olympiads — will be hiring from Tier-2 and beyond locations across various fields like marketing, sales and technical roles. It is planning to recruit over 1000 people in sales profile, 100 engineers in technology teams located in USA’s Kirkland in Washington and Bengaluru, India. It will also be looking to add qualified teachers to deliver online programmes in regional languages. The homegrown startup said that it will also be creating around 100 job opportunities in its overseas markets including the USA, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Singapore. The founder and chief executive of BasicFirst, Randhir Kumar said, “The company has seen considerable month-on-month growth of 100% with a 52% CAGR [compound annual growth rate] in the last nine months, thanks to strong demand from Tier II and beyond locations. We are responding to this surge by growing our staff and extending our presence across the country to supplement our growth plan.” Founded in 2017, BasicFirst is an edtech startup powered by artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and data analytics which provides enhanced personalised learning and academic support and content to students in remotest locations of India. It also offers live one-to-one and one-to-many mentoring to its students across different learning stages and courses — JEE for engineering, AIIMS and NEET for medical entrance exams, NTSE for scholarships, and Olympiads courses for class 6 to 12. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/education/news/planning-to-study-in-the-uk-these-are-a-few-scholarships-available-for-international-students/articleshow/85103227.cms">Planning to study in the UK? These are a few scholarships available for international students</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/bank-po-and-clerk-exams-these-are-a-few-tips-and-tricks-that-can-help-you-clear-them/articleshow/85230720.cms">Bank PO/clerk exams: These are a few tips and tricks that can help you clear them</a>

Edtech startup BasicFirst plans to hire over 1000 employees for sales, marketing and engineering roles

After a report claimed that edtech major <keyword id="6630114" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="unacademy" source="Orion">Unacademy</keyword> has laid off employees from its job hiring platform <keyword id="12215842" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="relevel" source="Orion">Relevel</keyword>, the company's Founder and CEO <keyword id="1727930" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="gaurav-munjal" source="Orion">Gaurav Munjal</keyword> said on Wednesday that there were no layoffs. "No layoffs. We have moved some team members to other Businesses of the Group though. Team worked really really hard to ensure that we find a role for everyone," <keyword id="6320" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="munjal" source="Orion">Munjal</keyword> tweeted. A user replied: "That's nice Gaurav. Nice to read this. Compassion towards employees and fitting them in other divisions". MoneyControl first reported that Relevel "halved its team to 700 employees" amid the economic meltdown. Relevel was launched in 2021 by <keyword id="3886063" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="shashank-murali" source="Orion">Shashank Murali</keyword>, Saksham Keshri and Prakash Kumar, on the back of strong traction witnessed in user growth, hiring company partnerships, and placement rate. Last year, Relevel raised $20 million from its parent edtech company Unacademy. In April, Unacademy laid off nearly 600 employees, contractual workers and educators, about 10 per cent of its 6,000-strong workforce across the group. As the funding winter hit edtech startups and unicorns in India, Unacademy founders and management took pay cuts. In an internal email last month, Munjal said that even though the company has more than Rs 2,800 crore in the bank, "we are not efficient at all". "We spend crores on travel for employees and educators. Sometimes it's needed, sometimes it's not. "There are a lot of unnecessary expenses that we do. We must cut all these expenses. We have a strong core business. We must turn profitable asap," the email read. "We will be shutting down certain businesses that have failed to find the product market fit (PMF) like the <keyword id="14425744" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="global-test-prep" source="Orion">Global Test Prep</keyword>," he told the employees. Unacademy last month said that a small fraction of its workforce (2.6 per cent) has been asked to go as part of a performance improvement programme (PIP). Nearly 150 employees (2.6 per cent) from Unacademy's PrepLadder team were laid off. SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/syrma-sgs-technology-ipo-last-day-to-subscribe-grey-market-premiums-at-25/articleshow/93625416.cms">Syrma SGS Technology IPO: Last day to subscribe, grey market premiums at ₹25</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/markets-to-open-slightly-lower-on-us-fed-signals-of-more-rates-hikes/articleshow/93628803.cms">Markets to open slightly lower on US Fed signals of more rates hikes</a>

Unacademy founder Gaurav Munjal says its job hiring platform will see no layoffs

<ul><li>The Union Cabinet gave a nod to National Medical Commission Bill (NMC). </li><li>Students will be admitted based on score in the MBBS final examination, which will now be known as National Exit Test (NEXT). </li><li>NEXT will also be considered as a screening exam for foreign medical aspirants. </li><li>The common entrance test will also be applicable to AIIMS and INIs.</li></ul>In a good news to medical aspirants in India, the Union Cabinet gave a nod to National Medical Commission Bill (NMC). With the National Medical Commission (NMC) in place, students will be admitted based on score in the common final year <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/national-medical-commission-bill-gets-cabinet-nod-to-be-introduced-in-current-session-of-parliament/articleshow/70264838.cms">MBBS exam</a>, which will now be known as National Exit Test (NEXT). This means that the medical aspirants will no longer have to go through a separate examination to secure a licence to practice medicine, or to enroll in postgraduate programmes. In fact, NEXT will also be considered as a screening exam for foreign medical aspirants. In a bid to have uniformity across institutions, the bill also seeks to rope in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Institute of National Importance (INIs) into the given criteria. “At present, we have NEET and entrance exams for AIIMS. Now, we will also have an exit exam that will be for everyone for getting a licence to practice medicine in the country," Mint <a href="https://www.livemint.com/politics/policy/cabinet-approves-bill-to-replace-mci-with-national-medical-commission-1563360408508.html">reported</a> citing Union minister <keyword id="119642" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Prakash-Javadekar">Prakash Javadekar</keyword>. The NMC, which will substitute the Medical Council of India(MCI), will be set up to take over the responsibilities of conducting common entrances for MBBS, streamlining the course and fees. Under this, the government will introduce fee relaxation for students enrolling in private institutions. “The Medical Assessment and Rating Board will grant permission for new medical colleges, starting PG courses and increasing seats based on the standards set by the UG and PG boards,” the Cabinet noted. The NMC will constitute three autonomous bodies — Under-Graduate Medical Education Board, Post-Graduate Medical Education Board, and Ethics and Medical Registration Board — which will focus on ensuring global standards of education. Every year, 80,000 students take admission in MBBS courses across the country. While 150,000 take the entrance examination to enroll in 50,000 seats for PG courses. The government recently <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/health-ministry-proposes-to-rule-out-neet-examination-for-md-and-ms/articleshow/70225109.cms">announced</a> a 26% increase in the number of seats for MBBS aspirants in the last two years — reserving nearly 5,000 seats for economically weaker sections. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/health-ministry-proposes-to-rule-out-neet-examination-for-md-and-ms/articleshow/70225109.cms">MBBS doctors can skip entrance exams for MD and MS courses, if Health Ministry has its way</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/you-no-longer-need-to-know-chinese-languages-if-you-want-to-study-medicine-in-china/articleshow/69249827.cms">You no longer need to know Chinese languages if you want to study medicine in China</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/worlds-smallest-mri-scanned-and-it-did-not-capture-the-human-body-this-time/articleshow/70051460.cms">World’s smallest MRI scanned — and it did not capture the human body this time</a>

Now, MBBS doctors need not take extra exams for licences, PG admissions

The <keyword id="22200485" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NEET-PG-2024" source="keywords">NEET-PG 2024</keyword> entrance examination will be held on <keyword id="22298192" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="August-11" source="keywords">August 11</keyword> in two shifts, the <keyword id="20270021" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="National-Board-of-Examinations-in-Medical-Sciences" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences">National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences</keyword> announced on Friday. The <keyword id="19957604" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="exam" source="keywords">exam</keyword> was earlier scheduled to be held on June 23. "In continuation of NBEMS notice dated 22.06.2024, the conduct of NEET-PG 2024 examination has been rescheduled. It will now be conducted on August 11 in two shifts. The cut-off date for the purpose of eligibility to appear in the NEET-PG 2024 shall continue to be August 15, 2024," the Board said. The <keyword id="19897332" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Union-Health-Ministry" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Union Health Ministry" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Union Health Ministry">Union Health Ministry</keyword> on June 22 postponed the NEET-PG entrance examination, scheduled to be held on June 23, as a "precautionary measure" in the wake of allegations on the integrity of certain competitive exams. Several meetings since then have been held with officials from the Union Health Ministry, National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) along with its technical partner Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), National Medical Commission (NMC) and Cyber Cell officials to evaluate the "robustness" of the system for the conduct of the exam, sources said. The Ministry of Health had decided to undertake a thorough assessment of the robustness of processes of the NEET-PG entrance examination. The National Eligibility Entrance Test-Postgraduate (NEET-PG) entrance examination is conducted by NBEMS along with its technical partner TCS for medical students. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/upcoming-smartphones-launching-in-india-in-july-2024/slidelist/111304902.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/upcoming-smartphones-launching-in-india-in-july-2024/slidelist/111304902.cms" target="_blank">Upcoming smartphones launching in India in July 2024</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/hp-envy-x360-14-review/articleshow/111407165.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/hp-envy-x360-14-review/articleshow/111407165.cms" target="_blank">HP Envy x360 14 review – feature-packed laptop with a sleek design</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/motorola-razr-50-ultra-flip-phone-launched-in-india-for-99999/slidelist/111504950.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/motorola-razr-50-ultra-flip-phone-launched-in-india-for-99999/slidelist/111504950.cms" target="_blank">Motorola Razr 50 Ultra flip phone launched in India for ₹99,999</a>

New dates announced for NEET-PG 2024, exam to be held on August 11

<ul><li>The Health Ministry has proposed to drop NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Examination) for admission to MD and MS courses. </li><li>The admission will be based on the scores in the MBBS final examination and National Exit Test (NEXT). </li><li>The candidates wanting to enroll in PG courses in AIIMS will still have to go through the mandatory entrance exam. </li><li>NEET Super Speciality exam will also be mandatory to study Master of Surgery (Mch). </li></ul>MBBS pass outs might not have to go through an entrance exam to pursue post-graduate courses, if a proposal by Health Ministry goes through. It wants to drop NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Examination) for admission into MD (Doctor of Medicine) and MS (Master of Science) courses. If the draft National Medical Commission (NMC) bill goes through, students can be admitted based on score in the MBBS final examination and National Exit Test (NEXT), PTI<a href="https://www.thehindu.com/education/health-ministry-bill-proposes-to-axe-neet-pg/article28430886.ece"> reported</a>. They will also not be required to go through a separate examination to secure a licence to practice medicine, according to the proposed draft. The draft excludes All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) from the given criteria. The candidates wanting to enroll in PG courses in AIIMS will still have to go through the mandatory entrance exam. In addition to this, the NEET Super Speciality exam will also be mandatory to study Master of Surgery (Mch). The draft NMC Bill was tabled in the Parliament in 2017. It focussed at introducing a ‘bridge course’ that will enable medical practitioners of alternative medicine to pursue allopathy. However, it faced criticism from medical professionals and health associations in India. The bill was later revised with several amendments including aggressive punishments for unauthorised practice of medicine — a year long imprisonment or a fine of up to ₹500,000. However, to address the shortage of medical professionals, the government has <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/education/4800-mbbs-seats-reserved-for-economically-weaker-students-5826733/">allocated 26% more seats</a> for MBBS aspirants in the last two years — reserving nearly 5,000 seats for economically weaker sections. Overall, nearly 80,000 students take admission in MBBS courses every year in 480 institutes across the country. Of this, 150,000 take the entrance examination to enroll in PG courses. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/you-no-longer-need-to-know-chinese-languages-if-you-want-to-study-medicine-in-china/articleshow/69249827.cms">You no longer need to know Chinese languages if you want to study medicine in China</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/upsc-proposes-to-drop-csat-aptitude-test-from-the-civil-services-exams/articleshow/70143460.cms">UPSC proposes to drop aptitude test from the civil services exams</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/worlds-smallest-mri-scanned-and-it-did-not-capture-the-human-body-this-time/articleshow/70051460.cms">World’s smallest MRI scanned — and it did not capture the human body this time</a>

MBBS doctors can skip entrance exams for MD and MS courses, if Health Ministry has its way

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pjanvandaele/4034179415/">pjanvandaele/Flickr</a>Japanese medical schools admitted to rigging acceptance requirements in favor of male candidates.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Japan's Juntendo University admitted to setting lower pass marks for men in their entrance exams.</li><li>Officials said it was because female applicants tended to perform better in the interview part of the assessment since "women mature faster mentally than men."</li><li>They also claimed it was because they didn't have enough space in their female dormitories.</li><li>Japan already has the lowest proportion of female-to-male doctors among OECD countries.</li></ul>A Japanese medical school admitted rigging its entrance requirements in favor of men because "women mentally mature faster."The private Juntendo University in Tokyo told a Monday press conference that it set lower pass marks for men in its entrance exams, which included an interview, the country's Asahi Shimbun newspaper <a href="http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201812110050.html">reported</a>.Women make up 21% of all Japan's doctors, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare <a href="https://www.nippon.com/en/features/h00261/">said</a> in 2016. That is the lowest proportion of female-to-male doctors among all 36 countries in the the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the non-profit Nippon Communication Foundation said.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/japans-population-is-shrinking-demographic-time-bomb-2018-6">Japan's demographic time bomb is getting more dire, and it's a bad omen for the country</a><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://mmlafleur.com/mdash/quitting-your-job-to-travel-2">Ashlea Halpern</a>The dean of Juntendo University's medical school said that women mature faster mentally than men.</div></div></div>Juntendo University representatives said this was because female candidates tended to perform better in interviews, so the rigging was a "measure to help" their male counterparts.Hiroyuki Daida, dean of Juntendo's medical school, said according to Asahi: "Women mature faster mentally than men and their communication ability is also higher.""In some ways, this was a measure to help male applicants," he said.Juntendo officials also claimed that because there was limited space in the female dormitories, the school needed to limit the number of female students. The precise number of male and female dorms at the medical school is not clear.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">WebsEdgeHealth/YouTubeThe campus of Juntendo University in Tokyo. School officials said that it raised acceptance requirements for women because there wasn't enough room in their female dormitories.</div></div></div>Because of this policy, the university erroneously failed 165 people who sat its entrance exams in 2017 and 2018. This affected both men and women, but mostly women.Officials on Monday said that it would accept 48 people from that batch - of which 47 were women - from 2019 onwards, and refund the entrance test fees for the remaining 117, the Japan Times <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/12/11/national/juntendo-university-treated-female-medical-school-applicants-unfairly-entrance-exams-report-third-party-panel-says/#.XBJCHhP7RKM">reported</a>.Juntendo University President Hajime Arai said: "At that time, we judged that the measure was reasonable at our university's discretion.""We won't do it from now on after being pointed out that our measure was inappropriate," he added.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Kim Hong-Ji-Pool/ Getty ImagesJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government accused ten medical schools of operating "inappropriate entrance exams."</div></div></div>Officials from Kitasato University, another medical school in Tokyo, also admitted to rigging entrance exam scores for men on Monday.They did not provide a reason, but admitted to prioritizing male applicants on its website, according to Asahi. They said they would set up a third-party committee to figure out next steps.On Friday, Japan's <keyword id="6355445" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="education">education</keyword> ministry also accused Juntendo and Kitasato, as well as eight other medical schools, of operating "inappropriate entrance exams," Asahi <a href="http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201812140074.html">reported</a>.This included allowing for a lower pass score for men, and discriminating against people based on their age and home address, Asahi said.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Kanuman">Kanuman/Shutterstock</a>A street scene in Tokyo, where Juntendo and Kitasato universities are based.</div></div></div>In August, investigators found that Tokyo Medical University, one of Japan's top medical schools, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tokyo-medical-university-accused-altering-tests-admissions-keep-women-out-2018-8?r=UK&amp;IR=T">systematically altered admissions test scores</a> to make sure women wouldn't get in.The university marked down female applicants' scores to keep their numbers below 30% of the student body, the report found.An unnamed source told the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper that the school invented the quota because it believed that women would ultimately use their training less because they would leave to become full-time mothers. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/youngest-female-broker-diversity-new-york-stock-exchange-nyse-2018-11">Meet the 24-year-old who's the youngest female broker in the New York Stock Exchange</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

Japanese medical school admits rigging entrance exams in favor of men because 'women mentally mature faster'

Like every year, lakhs of Indian students are preparing for medical entrance examinations conducted separately by state governments and private colleges. However, they would be breathing a sigh of relief because the Supreme Court of India has ruled that multiple tests should be replaced with the National Eligibility Entrance Test (<keyword id="6361994" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="NEET">NEET</keyword>) from this very session (2016-17). 
 
The decision has come just a few days before the test season starts from May 1, when CBSE conducts the All India Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Entrance Test. This is to be followed by Maharashtra CET on May 5, after which private medical colleges of Karnataka will conduct a test on May 8. Apart from these, five more entrance tests are scheduled for the next month. 
 
The test in question, NEET, had been declared illegal and unconstitutional by SC in 2013, but was restored on April 11. 
 Even after the revival when the authorities failed to implement it, <keyword id="3341279" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="NGO-Sankalp-Charitable-Trust">NGO Sankalp Charitable Trust</keyword> approached the SC for enforcing the mechanism for a common test for admission in MBBS, BDS and PG courses in all colleges. 
 
"A student seeking admission in a medical college has to shell out lakhs of rupees in taking an examination and most of the tests are not conducted in a fair manner. There is no impediment in way of implementing NEET after the Constitution bench verdict and the Centre should be directed to enforce the order in association with MCI and CBSE," Advocate Amit Kumar, appearing for the petitioner NGO Sankalp Charitable Trust, told the bench. This prompted the bench to rule that NEET must be implemented from the coming academic session itself. 
 
<a href="http://nagpurtoday.in/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/medical-exam.jpg">Image source</a>

SC wants NEET, the common medical admission test, to be implemented from this session itself

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Criminal gangs are helping students cheat on exams in India, according to The Wall Street Journal.</li><li>Cheating has, in particular, plagued India's highly competitive medical entrance exam.</li></ul>India's massive examination machine is floundering.This year, the country's primary testing body — the National Testing Agency (NTA) — has faced a series of controversies.They range from exam delays and cancellations to more serious allegations of errors in questions and leaked papers.While NTA officials have denied that any exam papers were leaked the federal education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, told the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv22wl82yldo">BBC</a> in June that "some irregularities" had been found.Now, it seems some are taking advantage of the examination chaos.According to the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/world/india/gangs-are-making-millions-helping-indians-cheat-on-exams-32500cce">Wall Street Journal, some middle-class families are paying criminal gangs thousands </a>to help their children get the upper hand on these exams.<h2 id="5266815a-7004-480f-a5ba-395977759d6c">Cheating in India's medical entrance exam</h2>Cheating has, in particular, plagued India's highly competitive medical entrance exam, also known as the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET).This year, around 2.4 million students in India took the exam, competing for medical college seats totaling about 0.02% of that number."Very few people crack it on the first try," one student, who asked not to be named for privacy reasons, told Business Insider.She spent a year preparing for the undergraduate and postgraduate exams, respectively. During this time, she woke up at 4 a.m. and studied for at least 10-12 hours each day.Some prefer to take an easier route.The Journal found that several students had paid $15,000-20,000 to illegally look at the question paper before the exam. BI could not independently verify the figures.The police made multiple arrests related to exam cheating after results showed that 67 people received perfect scores in the NEET exams this year."Question papers are sold at extravagantly high prices," Ashok Rathore, a police officer who investigated cheating linked to India's medical school exam, told the Journal. "It's a nexus of desperate students, parents, tuition centers and printing presses."<h2 id="378edaf6-be36-458e-8847-661e66638c81">Leaked questions</h2>One student told BI that several Telegram channels dedicated to exam prep saw messages encouraging students "struggling with exams and don't have time for studies" to get in touch for "help.""My friend said he was asked to pay around 15,000 rupees ($180) to enter the private channel where they shared the questions," she said.BI reached out to the Telegram account offering "help". The person said they can provide next year's medical entrance exam questions for around 1 lakh rupees ($1,200).High ranks in these exams mean coveted "seats" in medical colleges operated by the state and national governments. Those with money can still legally obtain places in private medical colleges if they pay fees ranging from $115,000 to $145,000.However, some students with the financial capacity prefer cheating and getting a government seat instead."It makes very good economic sense," a senior medical advisor with knowledge of the matter told BI. "The question paper will be given for about 25 lakh rupees (around $29,000). For that much, they get a free seat in a government college where they only have to pay around 16,000 rupees ($190) per annum.""For the entire five-year degree, that still only comes to around one lakh rupees ($1191), so of course rich students would rather do that instead of paying their way into private medical schools."<h2 id="4ff61c3d-756d-47c9-8f47-2f6be9f1f6a0">Earning a 'merit' seat</h2>The advisor — who preferred to remain anonymous but whose identity is known to BI — also said there is a significant amount of respect that comes with having "earned" a merit seat instead of paying their way into a private "management" seat."Unfortunately, there are very few objective metrics that people have as outsiders to judge the competence of their doctors, especially at a time when everybody in India sits with an MBBS board outside their clinic," agreed Asish George, a doctor who cleared the entrance exam in 2014."For those people, the fact that someone cracked a highly competitive entrance exam and got in would inspire more confidence than someone who paid their way through the whole thing."According to the Journal, authorities in India have tried to install video cameras inside exam halls and increased their monitoring of social media to catch cheaters. But many are still finding ways to illegally gain the upper hand, at a high price. The NTA did not immediately respond to a request by BI for comment.

India's exam system is in chaos, with some families paying thousands to help their kids cheat

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (<keyword id="6357766" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="dmk">DMK</keyword>) President <keyword id="96364" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="MK-Stalin">MK Stalin</keyword> on Tuesday demanded scrapping of <keyword id="6361994" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="NEET">NEET</keyword> for medical college admissions as the Centre had allowed for separate entrance tests in its 11 such institutions in <keyword id="20154" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="tamil-nadu">Tamil Nadu</keyword>. Similarly, in medical colleges in Tamil Nadu, admissions for postgraduate courses should not be made based on National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) scores, he said. Stalin urged Chief Minister K Palaniswami to write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this subject so that admissions to postgraduate medical courses could be made and 69 per cent reservation quota implemented for the same. The Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly also urged Palanswami to hold counselling for admissions to special medical courses for government doctors with 50 per cent reservation.

You Searched For "prepladder medical entrance platform" and got 10 results

Unacademy leads $5mn investment in learning platform Mastree

IANS

Edtech startup BasicFirst plans to hire over 1000 employees for sales, marketing and engineering roles

Vaamanaa Sethi

Unacademy founder Gaurav Munjal says its job hiring platform will see no layoffs

IANS

Now, MBBS doctors need not take extra exams for licences, PG admissions

Prerna Sindwani

New dates announced for NEET-PG 2024, exam to be held on August 11

PTI

MBBS doctors can skip entrance exams for MD and MS courses, if Health Ministry has its way

Prerna Sindwani

Japanese medical school admits rigging entrance exams in favor of men because 'women mentally mature faster'

Alexandra Ma

SC wants NEET, the common medical admission test, to be implemented from this session itself

BI India Bureau

India's exam system is in chaos, with some families paying thousands to help their kids cheat

Hannah Abraham

DMK President MK Stalin wants NEET to be scrapped for medical college admissions in Tamil Nadu

IANS

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides