All
the exams will be computer-based except for NEET, which will be
conducted in pen-and-paper mode.
The
Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) on Tuesday announced
the schedule for various entrance examinations till May 2019 to be
conducted by the newly-established National Testing Agency (NTA).
It
announced the schedule for UGC-NET, JEE-Main I & II, CMAT &
GPAT, and NEET-UG.
All
these exams will be computer-based except for NEET, which will be
conducted in pen-and-paper mode as before. This mode of writing exam
was kept unchanged at the request of the Health Ministry.
"The
change in the NEET
exam pattern (as against the statement made on July 7, 2018) -- which
will now be a single exam in pen-and-paper mode and in the same
number of languages as has been conducted last year -- is on the
request of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which wanted
the same pattern as last year's to be maintained," the HRD
Ministry said in its statement.
While
declaring the establishment of NTA, the Ministry had in July said
that all these exams will be conducted online.
As
per the schedule announced on Tuesday, the UGC-NET will be conducted
on several days during December 9-23, 2018; JEE-Main
I on days between January 6 and 20, 2019, while JEE-Main II will
be held between April 6 and 20, 2019.
The
CPAT-GMAT entrance, earlier conducted by the All India Council for
Technical Education, will be conducted by the NTA now on January 28
and NEET-Undergraduate on May 5 next year.
The
Ministry said that through NTA it has also established 2,697 Test
Practice Centres (TPCs) in schools and engineering colleges for
candidates to practice and familiarise themselves with the pattern of
the exams.
These
centres will be available to the candidates on Sundays and Saturdays
starting from September 1 and will be free of charge.
"The
TPCs will have a downloaded Computer Based Test (CBT) which will be
similar to the actual test to be conducted on the exam day.
"The
practice tests will help the candidates familiarise themselves with
logging into the system, going through the detailed instructions
regarding the test, using the mouse or numeric keyboard on screen
(virtual) for attempting each question, scrolling down to the next
question, navigating between questions, reviewing and editing their
options and submit questions," the statement read.
