NEET decision: Fate of 800 National Institute of Open Schooling students hangs in the balance
HYDERABAD: Amid protests following the Medical Council of India barring students of National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) from appearing in NEET, a parent from the city, on Thursday, approached the High Court challenging the rule. The medical regulator appears to have taken the stand to bar the students of open boards on the ground that the syllabi of open boards, including NIOS, does not include practical in science subjects. It’s worth noting that the syllabi of both CBSE (that conducts NEET) and NIOS are prepared by NCERT.
The petitioner Madhavi Latha Adimulam said that the sudden and last-minute revision of the criteria has not only trashed the hope of students but is also arbitrary and against the tenet of equal opportunity for all.
Speaking to Express, Adimulam said that her 17-year-old son Pranav Kumar Chenichery was so stressed that he has not been able to sleep for a week. “He told me that his life is ruined because becoming a doctor is all he dreamt about. I have gone to the court to challenge this logic-defying rule. But what about the students from rural areas who probably don’t have any inkling of this? What if any child commits suicide? What will they do then,” she asked.
NIOS miffed
According to CBSE, 1, 412 students of seven open school boards, including NIOS, had qualified NEET last year. It may be recalled that last month the MHRD had also written to MCI requesting it to reconsider its decision. The former, however, did not oblige. Miffed NIOS officials have called it a “prejudiced move” that will deprive students, a majority of whom come from economically backward background.
In Telangana, 3,700 students will appear for the final board examination under NIOS in April. Of these, 1,900 are from class 12 and another 1,800 from class 10. The revised criteria for NEET has left the fate of nearly 800 NIOS students of BiPC in the lurch.
Flaying the MCI for saying that students of open schools lack practical knowledge, Anil Kumar, region director, NIOS, said that all students are allocated study circles which are recognised schools and junior colleges, where along with theory classes, students also undergo practical. In fact, each subject carries 100 marks — with 85 per cent accorded to theory and 15 per cent for practicals.“A student qualifies NEET based on his performance and not on the basis of which Board he belongs to. Then why this discrimination? By denying NIOS students even the right to appear for the exam, you are depriving a lot of students of a career in medicine,” said Kumar and added that several students take up the open schooling in intermediate only because they want to crack competitive examinations.
Kumar also said that one of the repercussions of this diktat will be that there will not be many takers for BiPC under open schooling. Adimulam, a resident of Kondapur whose elder son is autistic, runs a centre for children with autism. “My only hope is Pranav. But with this regulation the MCI has nailed and sealed his future,” she said.