Any change in medical admission should be announced in advance, parents tell Maharashtra govt

The recent announcement by the Maharashtra government about considering admission to undergraduate medical seats based on Class 12 score over NEET has not gone down well with several stakeholders

Until recently 18-year-old Manusha Pandey was eagerly waiting for the results of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) exams conducted 10 days ago, but now she’s confused. The recent announcement by the state government about considering admissions to undergraduate medical seats based on Class 12 score over NEET has not gone down well with several stakeholders.

Since the Maharashtra government has not yet given a clear indication about their decision on the status of NEET for medical admission, students are hoping no changes will be introduced this year.

“Admission rules should be specified in advance, to prepare students for the same. How can the state government even hint at changes to the admission process this late in the year, especially after lakhs of students have already appeared for NEET,” said Brijesh Sutaria, parent and activist. He added that the Supreme Court in a previous order has clarified that admissions to professional courses should be conducted in the common admission process on the basis of entrance exams only.

This move comes less than 10 days after the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a bill seeking a permanent exemption to the state from NEET. The Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill, 2021, was supported by several political parties in the state and was introduced after a 19-year old medical aspirant died by suicide hours before the NEET exam was to be conducted on September 11.

On Wednesday, the Maharashtra minister for medical education, Amit Deshmukh suggested that the government will review the all-India entrance exam and decide whether it is good for students. He responded to a letter written by a local leader addressed to the state chief minister, Uddhav Thackeray, requesting scrapping of NEET, and conducting medical admissions based on Class 12 scores.

“The government added to the anxiety of students with this move, no matter the final decision. The timing for such a discussion is wrong, not only because the exam has already been conducted, but also because Class 12 marks this year were awarded without an official exam. It’ll be unethical to conduct admissions to medical and dental courses based on such scores,” said Anuja Parikh, parent of a UG medical aspirant.

Rising Covid-19 cases forced most school education boards to scrap Class 12 board exams this year and instead promote students based on their performance in Class 10, 11 and 12 following a 30:30:40 formula. This pushed the overall performance of students from all boards—while CBSE and ISC schools witnessed a hike in the number of students scoring 90% and 95% in their batches, the state board witnessed a 12-fold rise in the number of students scoring 90% and above this year, including 46 students who scored a perfect 100% in HSC this year.

Since the government has not yet given a clear indication about their decision on the status of NEET, students are hoping no changes will be introduced this year.

“Most of us have spent two or more years preparing for NEET along with our board exams, so by scrapping the test, the government will ruin our hard work of two years. We request the government to not make any changes to the existing process,” said a student. He added that several student groups in TN have already decided to approach the Apex court about the government’s recent decision.