Education minister Joshi holds review meeting on online coaching initiative by PM Modi

During a meeting held today, union education minister Pralhad Joshi, along with senior officials, reviewed the implementation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative to offer free online coaching to students preparing for competitive exams

PM had announced during his Independence Day speech that free online coaching for various competitive exams will be offered to the youth, easing the financial burden on their families.

Joshi posted on his X (formerly Twitter) and said that the discussion focused on creating a "national platform" that will provide high-quality learning content, expert guidance, and structured preparation for students across the country.

Joshi said: "Focused on building a robust national platform that makes high-quality learning content, expert guidance, and structured preparation accessible to students across the country."

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Reforms in NTA exam system

The minister has announced reforms in the NTA exam system, including security systems and infrastructure changes. Notably, the National Testing Agency (NTA) will remove 600 experts and onboard around 25 new officials in the upcoming weeks.

The development comes after several lapses were highlighted by UGC NET test takers in this year's English, commerce, and sociology question papers.

NTA will now conduct the UGC NET 2026 exam for the three subjects on September 9 and 10.

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Students' protests across the country

The country has been witnessing a strong mobilisation of youth over the NEET-UG paper leak and other education reforms, including ways to handle the coaching menace.

Earlier in July, the "Sansad Chalo" campaign, led by the CJP, saw widespread protests and highlighted problems faced by students. Following this, the government was forced to comply with the key demands of the protesters, including reforms in NTA and the resignation of then-education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.