Chennai: The significant improvement in the state's pass percentage in Neet 2019 may come as a ray of hope to thousands of medical aspirants in the state but experts believe they are missing the bigger picture. These numbers, though a huge leap from the state's past performances, are still a far behind northern regions like Delhi and Rajasthan which boasts of more than 70 per cent pass percentage. Furthermore, the number of government school students clearing the exam this year remains unknown. It might be noted that only 2 students from government schools secured admission into medical colleges in 2017, through the Neet. In 2018, it was just 4 students. Activists say these are the numbers to be discussed.
Talking to this paper, Dr.G. R.Ravindranath, general secretary of Doctor's Association for Social Equality, says,” Though the state's performance has significantly improved, it should be noted that there are no Tamil students in the top 50 merit list. North Indian states are far ahead of us. As of now, we have no information on the number of government students clearing the exam. This has to be the main focus before we talk about the success of Neet in our state”.
Neet is based on the syllabus of CBSE as opposed to the state's syllabus. This has been a major talking point in the past and many activists have argued that it is unfair to pit Tamil students (studying the syllabus prescribed by the state) against students who study the Central board syllabus.
Dr.G. R.Ravindranath says,” The government has to implement timely crash courses and Neet coaching classes. Many students from economically challenged backgrounds either do not have access to coaching centres or cannot afford them. The state has to address these issues immediately”.
Prince Gajendra Babu, an educationalist, terms Neet as “a social injustice” and says, “A better pass percentage does not make any difference to the medical aspirants in the state. The number of medical seats is still the same. Majority of students who cleared the exam are from the north meaning they will get more medical seats in our state.”
He says,” With the huge emphasis placed on Neet these days, the board examination performance of the students has come down drastically. What happens to students who pinned their hopes on Neet and didn't clear the test? Even if they wish to pursue other courses, they cannot secure admissions into any decent colleges because of their board scores. The current education system only puts students under a lot of stress.”
Neet was first imposed on the state in 2016, amid vehement opposition from the people. Various political parties too expressed their opposition and called out the Centre for not taking into consideration the interests of the people of Tamil Nadu.. And three years later, not much has changed with Neet still being a controversial exam and TN political parties still promising to ban Neet in their election manifestos.
