TIRUCHY: “I don’t understand anything from this,” said S Selvamani from Kuzhumani village, staring blankly at last year’s All India Pre Medical Test paper. This misty-eyed teenager is rather good at studies, having scored a spectacular 486 out of 500 in Class 10 which made her whole family confident that she was on track to become doctor. For the very modest family, her getting this MBBS admission was to be their ticket out of the misery of the present.
But with the Supreme Court deciding that admissions to MBBS and dental courses would be decided by their performance in the national level test that is based on the CBSE syllabus, those smart, intelligent and ambitious students like Selvamani are worried. Their only drawback is their inability to comprehend technical terms in English all of a sudden – they have to attend test in the second phase on July 24 – and not having enough money to take up special coaching.
The AIPMT is a bilingual test – English and Hindi – and there is no clarity as yet as to what would happen to the students of regional languages from various Indian states. There is also fear that students from poor families like hers may not get admission to the best medical colleges if the marks scored in NEET is taken into consideration.
“Having studied all through the schooling Tamil as the medium of instruction, taking up an entrance test in English, and that too based on CBSE curriculum, is going to be a really tough task,” added the young girl from her one-room house.
Surviving on the edge of poverty, Selvamani’s family has invested all their hopes on her becoming a doctor so that their family would rise up with her some day. “When she passed SSLC with 486 marks, our hopes went up sky high. We were very sure that she would become a doctor, a good one, in just a few years,” said her father S Subramani, a tailor.
Not far off from their home is where her friend Brindha Devi resides. She scored an identical 486 in Class 10 to emerge as the joint topper in their school, Kuzhumani Government Higher Secondary School. “At that time, the only thought I had was to become a doctor. I could serve the society, and also bring up the economic status of my family,” Brindha said, unable to shake off the shock.
“But now, the verdict has pulled down my confidence. In this very limited period of time, I have to learn English, learn technical terms of science in that language and have to cover the entire syllabus of higher secondary CBSE curriculum,” she noted dejectedly.
These two students were supported by C Velusamy, the headmaster of a city school, Syed Murtuza Government Higher Secondary School, who helped them join a private Tamil medium school in Namakkal district where they both continued with higher secondary school education at a free of cost.
“I believed in them and their dreams, and thus got them admitted to the school run by a friend who was willing to provide them free education,” he told Express. The verdict would have an effect on the future of all students across the country who did their schooling in regional languages, he added.
There was hope for these students if the test papers are made available in English and the regional language, be it Tamil, Telegu, Kannada or Malayalam, he added. Though shattered, Selvamani is determined to do her best, and has begun preparations for AIPMT. There is so little time and so much to study.
No clarity for aspirants
With a three-judge bench headed by CJI TS Thakur refusing to hear an urgent plea on Saturday seeking modification of its order on NEET for medical and dental courses admission, lakhs of students will appear for the test on Sunday.