Lok Sabha Question No. 2691 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-17
Subject: Centralized Entrance Examination
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Subbarayan K

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2691 ANSWERED ON : 17.03.2025

## Centralized Entrance Examination

## 2691. Shri Subbarayan K:

## Will the Minister of EDUCATION

be pleased to state:

(a) whether  the  present  system  of  centralised  entrance  examinations  for  medical  and engineering college admissions lead to undue stress and even mental health issues resulting in the increasing incidents of suicides cases at popular coaching centres in the country;

(b) if so, the number of suicides cases reported in Kota and other popular coaching centres during the year 2024 due to stress; and

(c) the details of changes proposed to be made  to innovate the present system decentralising the entrance examinations in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR)

(a) to  (c):  The  National  Testing  Agency  (NTA)  has  been  set  up  as  a  specialised  body  to conduct  examinations  for  entrance  to  Higher  Education  Institutions  (HEIs).  Since  its inception in 2018, NTA has successfully conducted over 250 examinations involving over 5.5 crore candidates.

NTA conducts the Joint Entrance Examination, JEE (Main) for admission to Undergraduate Engineering Programs (B.E. / B. Tech.) at NITs, IIITs, other Centrally Funded Technical  Institutions  (CFTIs)  and  Institutions  /  Universities  funded  /  recognized  by participating State Governments. JEE (Main) is also an eligibility test for JEE (Advanced), which is conducted for admission to IITs.

NTA also conducts the NEET (UG) as a common and uniform National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test for admission to undergraduate medical education in all medical institutions in the country.

The above examinations ensure equality of opportunity to candidates aspiring to undertake professional  courses  and  provide  a  level-playing  field  for  students  passing  out  of  various streams of different boards, each with a different system of marking.

Comprehensive  analysis  of  the  data  related  to  the  accidental  deaths  and  suicides  in  the country is published in the Accidental Death & Suicide in India (ADSI) reports by National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB). Year wise and State wise details  of  students'  suicides  are available in the year wise ADSI reports which are accessible at https://ncrb.gov.in/accidentaldeaths-suicides-in-india-year-wise.html.

As  per  Reports  of  NCRB,  there  are  various  causes  of  suicides  like  professional/career problems, sense of isolation, abuse, violence, family problems, mental disorders, addiction to alcohol, financial loss, chronic pain etc. As per ADSI 2022 amongst the causes of suicides 'failure in examination' constituted 1.2% and student suicide accounted for 7.6% of the total suicide cases.

Keeping  in  view  the  growth  in  number  of  unregulated  private  coaching  centers  in  the country;  instances  of  such  centers  charging  exorbitant  fees  from  students;  causing  undue stress on students and many other malpractices being adopted by these centres, Ministry of Education  has  circulated  Guidelines  for  Regulation  of  Coaching  Center  to  States/UTs  on 16.01.2024.

Ministry  of  Education  in  collaboration  with  IIT  Kanpur  launched  SATHEE  (SelfAssessment,  Test,  and  Help  for  Entrance  Examinations),  an  online  platform  in  November 2023.  The  platform  is  designed  to  offer  free  learning  resources  for  students  preparing  for competitive exams like JEE, NEET, SSC, IBPS, ICAR, and CUET. The platform has more than 10.9 lakh registrations as on 16th March 2025.

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