In 2017, NEET will be held in regional languages: Gujarat Minister

Another major decision that could be soon announced by the HRD ministry is to expand the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Pre-primary and secondary classes could be included under the purview of right of children to free and compulsory education.

“At present, the RTE Act is for the age group of 6-14 years or from Class I till VIII. This proved really detrimental to the quality of education in the last seven years. Students entered Class I and reached Class VIII. If RTE’s implementation is expanded to pre-primary classes as well as secondary (in Class IX and X), making it mandatory, it can help improve the quality of education,” said Chudasama, adding that this was discussed during his meeting with the HRD minister.

Chudasama revealed that he had sought a month’s time to revert with the state’s inputs on this decision. A special meeting was also called by the minister in Gandhinagar of all District Education Officers (DEOs) and District Primary Education Officers (DPEOs) after the question bank release function on Thursday. The education team from the state would be attending HRD ministry’s next meeting scheduled on October 25.

The question bank for students, says the minister, was a decision taken after the Supreme Court’s verdict on NEET, making it mandatory for all states. This is for the first time that such an exhaustive supplementary material is prepared for students appearing for competitive exams, like JEE/NEET/GUJCET/AIPMT/ AIIMS. On Thursday, the GSSTB completed 47 years. The board has plans to translate the question bank into English soon.