CHENNAI: Even before recovering from the NEET shock, some candidates will have to deal another shocker: those who appeared in Phase II of the common test but failed to intimate the CBSE that they appeared in Phase I as well will be debarred from appearing in future NEET exams.
After much deliberation, the Supreme Court allowed candidates who appeared in Phase-I of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test to take Phase-II exams. They were directed to inform the CBSE through e-mail that their Phase-I candidature can be withdrawn. The CBSE sent an e-mail to candidates to clarify on multiple submissions of applications on July 16 and 27, but only few had replied.
In an announcement dated July 27, the board said that those who failed to do so would have their results undeclared and be debarred from appearing for future NEET exams. This is a huge setback for many, as NEET is mandatory for medical admissions from next academic year.
Doctors and educationists condemned this move, which would affect thousands of students. Commenting that the entire NEET procedure adopted this year was in great haste causing confusion among all stakeholders including the government, the general secretary of Doctors’ Association for Social Equality (DASE), GR Ravindran, said students might have inadvertently failed to respond to the mail. “This was no serious offence and debarring (candidates) from future appearances is denial of natural justice,” he added.
Echoing him, educationist Prince Gajendra Babu said there was no specific ruling in the order instructing the board to reject applications, hold back results or debar candidates. A student applying for Phase II indicates that the previous candidature can be withdrawn, he said, criticising the move to “punish them for not responding to an e-mail which was in no way going to affect the selection or evaluation process.”