Medical entrance exam NEET will also be conducted in a centre in the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates this year, according to statements made by officials of India’s Ministry of Education on Thursday.

Middle Eastern country Kuwait will also be hosting the NEET exam, according to Ministry’s announcement earlier this month. This was done to help the Indian students gain residing the area, according to reports from PTI.  

“The National Testing Agency (NTA) has decided to create one more centre city in Dubai in addition to the one already created at Kuwait city during the year 2021,” HRD Secretary Amit Khare said in a letter to Foreign Secretary, Ministry for External Affairs.

“The Indian community in the Gulf countries may appropriately be informed about this. I would also be grateful if the Indian embassies in Kuwait and Dubai are advised to extend their full cooperation to the NTA in conduct of the exam in fair and secured manner,” he added.

The test will be conducted in a total of 13 languages this year, with Malayalam and Punjabi being the latest additions to the list, which includes Bengali, Tamil, English, Kannada, Odia, Telugu, Hindi among others.

The entrance test has been rescheduled for September 12, 2021. 

Authorities have also bumped up the number of examination centers for the NEET examination while the number of cities that host these centres have been increased from 155 to 198, according to reports from PTI.

Approximately 13.66 lakh candidates appeared for the NEET examination last year, which was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.