The Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health will soon resume discussions of holding the medical entrance exam – NEET – twice a year. The matter was first discussed last year under the leadership of Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank former minister of education, however, there has not been a consensus on the matter yet.
While there is a rising demand to hold the medical entrance exam twice a year to ensure it is not a ‘make or break’ exam depending upon only one day’s performance. The demands have intensified after several suicides were reported by medical aspirants. A committee set up by the Tamil Nadu government to assess the social and economic impacts of NEET also highlighted that the exam has given rise to coaching culture which leads to more kids from affluent families getting through the exam.
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The committee also highlighted that students who have been enrolled in MBBS courses via NEET have performed poorly than those enrolled based on class 12 marks.
While there is support for conducting the exam multiple times, there are also concerns. Over 15 lakh candidates register for the pen and paper-based exam every year which makes it very difficult to organise, more so because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since NEET 2021 was marred by a series of controversies from cheating to impersonator scandal to PILs in result and question paper errors among several others. There are concerns over holding the exam in a fair and authentic manner.
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There has also been changing of ministers who would be part of the discussion. Even though the consultations between the two ministries on having multiple times before the change of leadership might bring a new perspective, however, when will the next meeting on the matter will be is not known yet.
It was earlier reported that the Ministry of Education was in favour of the medical entrance test is held twice a year, however, no official statement on the matter is released yet. The apex body for medical education has also changed with the National Medical Commission (NMC) being formed since the last meeting.
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