New Delhi sources reported that Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday announced that JEE Mains and NEET the two national level engineering and medical entrance examinations will be held twice a year from 2019 by a newly formed National Testing Agency (NTA). Meanwhile the NTA was approved by the Union Cabinet in November 2017 as an autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organization to conduct entrance examinations for higher educational institutions to bring in major reforms in the examination system.
Javadekar said "The National Testing Agency will conduct them this year and the same student can take the exam both times a year and the best score will be counted”. Meanwhile he said all examinations under the NTA will be online. "Accordingly Computer centres will be set up where students with no access to computers can practice from August-end or September."
As per report JEE Main exams will be held in
January and April while NEET will be held twice in February and May. Javadekar
told reporters the nodal agency responsible for JEE Main and NEET examinations
was the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). He added apart from
Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main and National Eligibility cum Entrance
Examination (NEET), NTA would also conduct National Eligibility Test (NET),
Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) and Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test
(GPAT) exams.