NEW DELHI/CHENNAI/ COIMBATORE:Thousands of students across the State, who were aspiring to join MBBS and BDS courses based on the mark which they will be scoring in the Class XII public examination, will now have to forego their summer vacation and start preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), with the Supreme Court on Thursday giving its clearance to the two-phase test schedule from this academic year itself. The court permitted the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to conduct the test in two phases — first on May 1 for those who have already applied for the all-India medical and dental tests, and the second on July 24 for the rest.
Following this, senior officials from Tamil Nadu, one of the petitioners against the move to have a single common test for medical and dental entrances, are camped in the national capital, consulting top legal advisors on ways to re-appeal against the order. The State government has always held that deciding medical admission on the basis of Class XII marks as is done here is the more equitable way of admission procedure. “We are exploring all possibilities to stop this by way of a re-appeal,” Dr R Vimala, director of medical education (in-charge), told Express from Delhi.
Earlier in the day, a Bench comprising justices Anil R Dave, S K Singh and A K Goel accepted the schedule submitted by the CBSE, according to which the All India Pre-Medical / Pre-Dental Entrance Test (AIPMT 2016) to be held on May 1, will be phase I of NEET. The phase II of NEET for the left out candidates will be held on July 24 by inviting fresh applications. The combined result of both the tests will be declared on August 17.
The CBSE will provide All India Rank and admitting authorities will invite applications for counselling and the merit list shall be drawn based on the All India Rank. With its order, the apex court rejected all objections raised by states like Tamil Nadu, AP, Telangana and Karnataka Medical Colleges, which had contended that NEET cannot be imposed on them.
MCI president Jayshreeben Mehta told Express that the NEET will be the single entrance test for all medical admissions across the country, including government and private colleges, deemed universities and Central government institutions.
“We have handed over the entire process of conducting NEET to the CBSE. The board will soon come up with a notification about dates for commencement of application and last date for applying, pattern of the exam and syllabus. The admission process will be completed by September 30,” she added.
This has raised a lot of concerns in Tamil Nadu, where students will now have to prepare themselves for the test, competing with thousands across the State. According to MCI member LP Thangavelu, the ones here are the worst affected due to lack of a uniform school education system in the State.
“Only CBSE students will perform well, the State Board students won’t be able to compete with them,” he said.
Echoing him, Dr K Senthil president of the Tamil Nadu Medical Council raised concerns that not even 10 per cent of the aspirants will be able to get admission.
The common test route should be done only after introducing CBSE syllabus in all schools from Class VI itself, he added.
For P Pratyusha from Chennai, an aspiring doctor who has just completed Class XII board exams, the court ruling has come as a huge shock.
“Till now, we were concentrating only on the board exams. Now we have to put in that extra effort for the entrance exam,” she said.
This was the same worry for Haritha Kalyan, an aspiring doctor who has just completed Class XII board examinations.
“I have been working hard for the past two years preparing for board exams. But I cannot compete with CBSE students in the common test based on their syllabus.”
“This is unfair, only the CBSE students will be benefitted while our MBBS dreams are shattered,” added Haritha, who stayed at a hostel in Namakkal during the time she was preparing.
N Manjari Priyadharshini from Tiruchy, meanwhile, is already looking for coaching centres that can prepare her in the next nearly three months to crack the all-India test with a decent score that can enable her to gain admission to a good medical college.
Testing times
NEET-1: On May 1. AIPMT to be treated as NEET-1 for students who have already applied for it. 6,67,637 candidates from 1,040 centres in 52 cities will appear for it
NEET-2: On July 24. Those who have not applied for AIPMT can take it
NEET will have one 3-hr paper with 180 objective-type questions on Physics, Chemistry and Biology
Result: Aug 17
Admissions: Sept 30