7 dists see slump in med admissions, 4-fold rise in Chennai
TNN | Sep 7, 2017, 00:10 IST
Chennai: 'Merit factories' in districts such as Namakkal, Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri, known to churn out state toppers in Class XII, sent hundreds of students to medical colleges until 2016 by skipping the Class XI syllabus and promoting rote learning. This year, however, these districts have taken a beating in the NEET-based MBBS admissions, seeing a decline of up to 90%.
District-wise data at the end of the NEET-based single window counselling drawn up by the state selection committee shows that Namakkal, which sent 957 students to government quota seats medical colleges in 2016, had just 109 students in 2017 although the total number of seats went down marginally from 3608 to 3534. Similarly, the number of students went down from 338 to 82 in Krishnagiri and from 225 to 82 in Dharmapuri. Four other districts also saw a slump in admissions.
On the flip side, 25 of the 32 districts saw an increase of up to fourteen-fold in the number of students entering medical colleges. This includes several backward districts, debunking the premise of a rural-urban divide over NEET. In Chennai, which has the maximum number of students, the number went up from 113 to 471, while in districts like Tiruvarur and Ariyalur, which had two and four students respectively in 2016, there were 28 and 21 students in 2017.
In 2006, when the state cancelled all competitive and entrance examinations for professional admissions and made Class XII marks the criterion for admissions, several residential schools cropped up in the districts that have seen a slump this year. The managements charged up to Rs1.5 lakh as annual fee, but it came with a promise that students will score high enough to enter medical or engineering colleges. "These schools skip class XI syllabus completely and make students by-heart the entire Class XII portions for nearly two years," said T Rajeshwari, a teacher in Perambalur.
Most of these students struggle when they join medical college. "The first year pass percentage is one of the lowest in MBBS. When they give up rote learning, they begin to do well in the course. That happens in the second year for many students," said former Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University vice chancellor Dr K Anandakannan. "If schools manage to do away with rote, the quality of students would be much better," he said.
TNN | Sep 7, 2017, 00:10 IST
District-wise data at the end of the NEET-based single window counselling drawn up by the state selection committee shows that Namakkal, which sent 957 students to government quota seats medical colleges in 2016, had just 109 students in 2017 although the total number of seats went down marginally from 3608 to 3534. Similarly, the number of students went down from 338 to 82 in Krishnagiri and from 225 to 82 in Dharmapuri. Four other districts also saw a slump in admissions.
On the flip side, 25 of the 32 districts saw an increase of up to fourteen-fold in the number of students entering medical colleges. This includes several backward districts, debunking the premise of a rural-urban divide over NEET. In Chennai, which has the maximum number of students, the number went up from 113 to 471, while in districts like Tiruvarur and Ariyalur, which had two and four students respectively in 2016, there were 28 and 21 students in 2017.
In 2006, when the state cancelled all competitive and entrance examinations for professional admissions and made Class XII marks the criterion for admissions, several residential schools cropped up in the districts that have seen a slump this year. The managements charged up to Rs1.5 lakh as annual fee, but it came with a promise that students will score high enough to enter medical or engineering colleges. "These schools skip class XI syllabus completely and make students by-heart the entire Class XII portions for nearly two years," said T Rajeshwari, a teacher in Perambalur.
Most of these students struggle when they join medical college. "The first year pass percentage is one of the lowest in MBBS. When they give up rote learning, they begin to do well in the course. That happens in the second year for many students," said former Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University vice chancellor Dr K Anandakannan. "If schools manage to do away with rote, the quality of students would be much better," he said.
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