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Waiting for NEET: Medical colleges yet to start classes
MUMBAI: Even though the first rounds of admissions to government-run medical and para-medical courses are over and institutes with 80% or more allotted seats are
MUMBAI: Even though the first rounds of admissions to government-run medical and para-medical courses are over and institutes with 80% or more allotted seats are free to start classes, it is unclear whether the academic year can start.
“Most students who have confirmed admissions at these institutes based on their MH-CET scores are now awaiting the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET) results to bag seats in private and deemed medical and dental institutes. It makes no sense to start regular classes till then because students will not even attend classes,” said Dr Pravin Shingare, director of Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER). Results for NEET phase I and II will be announced by the CBSE board on August 17.
Admissions to medical and dental institutes were hit this year due to last minute changes to entrance examinations introduced by the central government. A Supreme Court decision in April made clear that medical and dental college admission across the country will be conducted on the basis of NEET. While the first phase of this exam was conducted on May 1, the second phase was conducted on July 24. Meanwhile, based on an ordinance signed by the President on May 24, state governments were allowed to conduct a Common Entrance Test (CET) for admissions to state-run institutes only.
“Even though 75% of our batches for physiotherapy and homeopathy are full, we are waiting for NEET results to be announced before we start regular lectures. In all probability we’ll end up refilling many of the seats to make up for withdrawal of admissions and this throws our academic schedule off the tracks,” said the director of an institute in Kurla. DMER too has not yet announced any date for start of regular lectures. “We hope this delay does not cost students in the end,” said Shingare.
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