The report of the committee constituted by the Tamil Nadu government regarding the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is worrying. According to its data, the proportion of students from rural areas, economically weaker, Tamil-medium schools and schools affiliated to state boards in Tamil Nadu’s medical colleges declined significantly since the introduction of NEET in 2017-18.
The panel results have formed the basis for the Tamil Nadu government’s move to do away with NEET for admission to MBBS courses in the state. A nine-member panel appointed by the state government to assess the impact of NEET on medical admissions found that the average proportion of rural students, which was 61.45 per cent before NEET, has come down to 50.81 per cent after NEET.
It has been found that students of government schools, who were under-represented even before the introduction of NEET, were left behind. Government school students scored an average of 1.12% of the first year MBBS batch in Tamil Nadu Pre-NEET. After NEET (Unreserved seats), this figure came down to 0.16%. Last year the state government introduced 7.5% reservation for state-run school students.
According to the committee’s report, the share of English medium school students in medical colleges has increased from 85.12% to 98.01% since NEET. On the other hand, the number of Tamil-medium school students is now only 1.99%, up from 14.88% four years ago.
The proportion of students with an annual family income of less than Rs 2.5 lakh declined from 47.42% in 2016-17 to 41.05% in 2020-21. While those whose annual family income was more than Rs 2.5 lakh, their proportion increased from 52.11% to 58.95% during this period.
According to the panel, students of CBSE affiliated schools have got more benefits than the students of state board. 98.23 per cent students who took admission in medical colleges before NEET were from state board schools and less than 1% were from CBSE affiliated schools. Now the number of CBSE students is 38.84%, while the number of students of state board schools is 59.41%. The panel believes that this is because NEET is primarily based on the CBSE syllabus.
According to a decision of the Supreme Court, NEET is the only single-window examination for admission to any medical school in the country. It has come into effect from the academic year 2017-18. Prior to NEET, admission to medical colleges in Tamil Nadu was mainly based on board scores. Since 2017 the state has tried to free itself from the examination through ordinances, litigation and protests. In the last one week alone, there have been two suicides allegedly over the entrance exam in the state.
A bill was passed in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday that once it becomes law, NEET examination will not be conducted in the state and admission to medical colleges will be given on the basis of marks scored in class 12 to ensure social justice.
