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‘After NEET, NExT will damage students, dilute states’ role’: Stalin to Modi
Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, opposing the introduction of the National Exit Test (NExT) for medical college students
Opposing the introduction of the National Exit Test (NExT) for medical college students, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday saying that it is neither in the interest of the students nor the state governments who fund most of the medical institutions. “This step seems to be just another attempt to dilute the role of State Governments and Universities in the health sector and to centralise the powers with the Union Government,” Stalin said in his letter seeking for the existing system to continue.
NExT is a common national level exit examination which would be a– qualifying criterion for final-year undergraduate medical students, the measure for merit-based allocation of postgraduate seats, and the screening mechanism for foreign medical graduates wanting to practise in India. The National Medical Commission (NMC) in December last year put draft regulations related to NExT in the public domain for comments and it is likely to be rolled out next year. Stalin recalled that they have already addressed their “strong reservations” against this with the Prime Minister and Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
The opposition continues to be in line in the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Tamil Nadu government’s opposition to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admissions into undergraduate medical colleges. A Bill to abolish NEET and reinstate the previous method of using Class 12 board exam marks for admissions has been passed by the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly and is pending with the Union government for the President’s assent. Stalin said that NEET has already adversely impacted the equitable school education based selection process and its contribution to the strengthening of the public health system.
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“At this juncture, the proposed introduction of NExT will surely exacerbate this trend and cause an irreparable damage to the interest of rural and socially disadvantaged students and the public institutions under State Governments,” Stalin said. “In this situation, the introduction of such a common exit test will definitely be an additional burden on the students. Given the high academic burden and stress faced by our medical students this needs to be strictly avoided.”
The Tamil Nadu chief minister added that all states are devising the curriculum for medical education under the norms fixed by the NMC. The curricula, training and examination system are monitored vigilantly by the respective State Medical Universities and students are awarded MBBS degree in recognised colleges, only after such rigorous training and examinations, he said.
“In addition, the introduction of such a course as a mandatory exit test will also hamper the clinical learning, which is vital for MBBS graduates,” Stalin said. “Today, young graduates focus both on the theoretical and clinical aspects of medical science and only after graduation, the students who opt for PG admissions focus on theoretical PG exams. But the introduction of mandatory exit exams will force them to focus more on the theoretical part of medicine during their course and internships. This is bound to hamper development of adequate clinical skills.”
