BENGALURU : Students in the city and across India who were not able to clear the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2018, and who had hopes of going abroad to study medicine, were in for a shock with the recent Delhi HC ruling.
A few months ago, the government had made it mandatory for students who wanted to study medicine abroad to pass the NEET. Following this, a petition was filed in the Delhi HC against the direction. On Friday, the Delhi HC allowed for a one-time exemption for students to go abroad, provided they did not appear for the NEET 2018.
However, all students who did appear for the NEET 2018, and who did not clear it, are not allowed to study medicine abroad.This has left students like Vijayalakshmi, from the city, in the lurch. She took the NEET, but was not able to clear the exam. Her hopes to study medicine in Russia got a second blow with the recent court ruling. “This is disappointing. I should not have been born in this country where major decisions that have far reaching effects on a student's life are taken without any consideration,” she says.
Vijaylakshmi futher says that now she has no choice but to miss a year. “I feel trapped. Neither can I study here nor can I go abroad. I have no choice but to prepare for the NEET next year,” says Vijayalakshmi.
On social media, a number of people called the ruling unfair. On Twitter, a handle by the name Jay_ pasion writes about the recent decision: “So those who are written (sic) and trapped by the panic created by MCI and attended are fools, and who did not attend are smart. There is no justice. No wonder some state students are moving against Govt machinery and state. Justice is first to who followed rule and appeared.”
Another Twitter post asks if anyone has a problem that NEET is being made compulsory to go abroad, just a few months before the exam.