Future of medical aspirants not NEET, opine academic and medical experts in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: Several discrepancies in the NEET exam results this year have made parents and students question the system of examination on the whole, and distrust the entire process.

Experts opined that it could impact the enrolment of students in the examand also, in the NEET coaching centres across the country.

Worried over their wards’ medical dreams, parents have demanded a fair investigation in the issue.

“My son had prepared for two years and scored above 500 this year. Given the current scenario, we don’t know the state of the exam system, especially considering it has impacted the cut-off marks. This is raising concerns about other discrepancies in the medical education,” said father of a NEET aspirant.

The coaching centres, however, have not felt the immediate impact as classes have already started for the current academic session. “The number of enrolments next year would suggest that the current controversy has made a dent in NEET-enrolment, but the issue of grace marks and toppers from the same exam centre have shocked us too,” said a teacher in a private NEET coaching centre.

Even as the State government continues to stand its ground on seeking exemption from NEET, medical education experts reiterated the need for a transparent probe to ensure aspirants are not affected.

“NEET exemption will be good for Tamil Nadu, as it would especially help students from backward communities. Exploitation is rampant in the medical field. A large number of medical seats in the country are going empty and the cut off was zero last year. Now, foreign medica graduates are also returning home in large numbers each year, but there aren’t enough vacancies to accommodate them. In this scenario, NEET would make it harder for aspirants, as a lot of them are leaving the seats they get. We have the highest number of medical colleges in the State and it will be wise to allow merit-based admissions,” explained Dr Edwin Joe, former Director of Medical Education.

As a coaching centre was found to be involved in a NEET-related cheating incident, Dr Edwin pointed out that even the NEET coaching centres are involved in such scams.

“Not every family can afford the fees these coaching centres charge. It’s unfair to let only the rich make it to government medical colleges when the poor struggle to get admission even in private institutions because of high fees,” he opined.

Concurring with Dr Edwin was a former secretary of the selection committee in Tamil Nadu, who stated that they had already seen empty seats in super-specialities at the end of mop-up counselling.

“This will happen to MBBS too. The All India quota seats were empty last year and had to be filled later on, after counselling was completed. People will lose faith in the profession if paper leaks and other scams continue,” the official added.

However, a few experts also refute the demands of exemption and said that the exam had been held successfully for many years and should not be scrapped because of the implementation errors in one year.

“It’s not the fault of the examination system itself. The procedures were not followed correctly and that must be corrected. The exam was postponed during the pandemic. And this year, a re-examination can be held. Since there are multiple problems reported during the execution, it will take a long time to investigate but admissions cannot be put on hold for that long. So, students should be given a chance to write the re-exam,” explained Dr Brahmanantham, one of the members of the NEET examination recommendation committee, and former VP-Medical Council of India.

NEET PG: Scamsters promise aspirants medical seat for Rs 50,000

In the backdrop of the UG results for NEET shrouded with controversies, the PG exam is scheduled to be held on June 23 by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences.

Many scams have been reported in the name of providing PG seats, including some NEET candidates receiving calls with promises of seats at a certain cost.

Even though the NEET cut-off for PG was zero last year, scamsters are calling the aspirants to offer them guaranteed seats. This made every candidate who appeared for the examination become eligible for counselling. As many as 1,300 seats went vacant after several rounds of counselling until February last year.

“There was an anonymous call that mentioned an agency I’ve never heard of. The caller said that I can get a PG seat for Rs 50,000 with an initial payment of Rs 20,000. The caller also said that the seat was promised to the PG aspirant for just appearing in the examination and that the seat was assured,” said a PG aspirant, on condition of anonymity. “Many who received such a call, made the payment, and never heard back from the callers or the agency.”

As multiple incidents like these have been reported, the breach of privacy by leaking the contact details of students is now being questioned. “We don't know how these people are able to approach students. Even the tuition centres have database of UG candidates, so data breach is possible there too. I also received a message regarding the PG medical seats being offered at Rs 20,000,” said another aspirant.

Meanwhile, senior officials from the Directorate of Medical Education caution students against falling for such scams and that it would only lead to their loss of money and time. In case they receive any calls or messages or emails, they have been instructed to approach the State Health Department.