TIRUCHY: Only seven of the 59 government school students from Tiruchy district who appeared for NEET 2025-26 qualified by securing the minimum eligibility score of 177, highlighting the continuing struggle of government school students to compete in the examination despite undergoing year-long coaching under the School Education Department's 'Vetri Palligal' initiative.
Data accessed by TNIE showed that the seven successful candidates account for just 11.8% of the government school students who took the test this year. More importantly, none of them crossed the 400-mark threshold, which officials said is generally required for government school students to have a realistic chance of securing an MBBS seat under Tamil Nadu's 7.5% horizontal reservation.
Among the qualifiers, only three students scored above 300 marks. A Anish Banu of Syed Murtuza Higher Secondary School topped the district among government school students with 369 marks. She was followed by L Nivetha of Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Musiri, with 337 marks and V Divya Varshini of Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Town Hall, with 307 marks. The remaining four qualifiers scored below 300.
The number of government school students appearing for NEET dropped to 59 this year from 185 in 2024-25. School Education Department officials attributed the decline largely to the re-test conducted after the cancellation of the exam following the question paper leak.
In 2024-25, 22 of the 185 government school students who underwent coaching at government-run NEET centres in Manapparai, Musiri, Manachanallur and Srirangam crossed the then qualifying cut-off of 113 marks. However, officials said no government school student from the district secured an MBBS seat under the 7.5% horizontal reservation that year, compared with one student in 2023-24.
The district had recorded a relatively stronger performance in 2023-24. A total of 100 government school students appeared for NEET that year, with the district topper from Government Boys Higher Secondary School, Musiri, scoring 472 marks. Another student scored 412 marks, while at least one more government school student crossed the 300-mark mark.
"We are providing government intensive coaching, but increasing competition from repeat candidates continues to put them at a disadvantage," School Education Department officials told TNIE.
Officials added that preparations for the next NEET cycle had begun much earlier this year, with the Vetri Palligal programme expanded to 19 centres across all 16 blocks in Tiruchy district. Coaching classes began in the first week of July, and officials expressed confidence that the early start and wider coverage would improve the performance of government school students in the next examination.
