Karnataka: NEET exam date delay CBSE struggling for exam centres

Bengaluru: Why has the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) still not been able to announce the dates for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)? 

That is because the board is struggling to finalise the exam centres because of its limited capacity to hold the examination, sources said.

As compared to the state PU department and Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA), the CBSE has very limited number of schools and colleges affiliated to it where only a few hundred students can be accommodated for the exam. 

Till NEET was introduced every year thousands of students appeared for the Common Entrance Test, conducted by the KEA. 

As many students were from middle class, lower middle class and poor families, Karnataka Examination Authority held the Test at district/subdivisional levels, enlisting all Pre-University colleges as CET centres. 

But since the CBSE has limited number of schools and colleges, it is finding it difficult to prepare a list of examination centres. 

“The CBSE hardly has any colleges/ schools in remote districts and subdivisional levels. Till last year, when it was conducting AIPMT, examination centres were set up only in four major cities. But since the numbers were small, the CBSE did not face any problems. But conducting NEET in each district and divisional level has become a big headache. If NEET examination centers are not set up in rural areas, the central government will be blamed,” the sources said.

The CBSE is now planning to join hands with Karnataka Examination Authority, state PU department and private engineering colleges to conduct the examination at the earliest. 

“In Karnataka, there are more than 200 engineering colleges and they all can be utilised. Due to the various other issues, including logistics, we are yet to announce the NEET date,” said a senior officer from the board.