25-26.06.23 Daily [Andhra Pradesh] APPSC Current Affairs

About 1.44 lakh candidates fromAndhra PradeshandTelanganaregistered their names to appear forthe nationaleligibility-cum-entrancetestundergraduate (NEET-UG) 2023. But only some 1,300 candidates opted to write the exam in . While the number of students attemptingNEETin Telugu has remained more or less the same in the last five years, registrations from the two Telugu states are going northwards with each passing year.

Conducting the exam in regional languages is supposed to create a level playing field for students who did their intermediate (10+2) and/or schooling in Telugu medium. It is also opined that Telugu question paper may help them understand the questions thoroughly and encourage them to attempt the exam with full confidence. However, the fewer registrations in Telugu speak an altogether different story.

As per National Testing Agency (NTA) data for the last five years, the number of students who choose Telugu faded compared to those who opted for other regional languages in NEET. While English was the favourite, Hindi continued its supremacy as the second most registered language. For example, 16.7 lakh students registered for the exam in English in 2023, followed by Hindi (2.76 lakh), Gujarati (53,027), Bengali (43,890), Tamil (30,536), Assamese (3324), Urdu (1695), etc. All the 11 regional languages accounted for only 1.38 lakh combined registrations.