Break year students bag 40% of med seats in govt colleges
Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com
Chennai 03.05.2018
: Nearly half the candidates who secured an MBBS seat in government medical colleges this year had taken a break of at least a year or more to prepare for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), data shows.
Of the 2,500 candidates who cleared NEET and got admission at medical colleges, as many as 1,269 cleared had their Class XII board exams before 2017, according to official data. The remaining 1,263 belonged to the current batch (2017-2018).
Compared to the previous year, there has been an increase in the number of candidates taking a break after Class XII board exams. Data shows that last year, a little over 40% candidates belonged to the previous batches. Many among them had joined private coaching centres and paid a hefty fee to prepare for NEET, say experts.
Commenting on this, Educationist Prince Gajendra Babu said this figure will increase further in the coming years as parents, who are either unable to pay the fees demanded by private medical colleges or not sure about the quality of teaching in these private institutions, encourage their children to skip the counselling that particular year, prepare better next year and get a seat in government medical college the following year.
“Instead of spending ₹30 lakh to ₹35 lakh in private colleges for the MBBS course, some prefer spending ₹2 lakh to ₹3 lakh at coaching centres for two years to ensure that they get a government seat where the fees would be much less. But meritorious students from economically weaker sections of the society will be eliminated from the competition in the longer run,” Babu said.
G R Ravindranath, general secretary, Doctor’s Association for Social Equality, said the trend is unavoidable with the government relaxing rules pertaining to upper age limit to take up NEET .
However, this trend might change in the next few years given the rate of corporatisation and privitisation of the health care system in the country and the weakening of public healthcare by reducing fund allocation.
“Many small and medium size medical clinics would shut down becaue of these policies thereby bringing down the demand for doctors. Also, given the duration of the course (seven-and-a-half years including postgraduation), high cost of education and fewer job opportunities, would deter more students from pursuing medicine,” he told TOI.
Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com
Chennai 03.05.2018
: Nearly half the candidates who secured an MBBS seat in government medical colleges this year had taken a break of at least a year or more to prepare for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), data shows.
Of the 2,500 candidates who cleared NEET and got admission at medical colleges, as many as 1,269 cleared had their Class XII board exams before 2017, according to official data. The remaining 1,263 belonged to the current batch (2017-2018).
Compared to the previous year, there has been an increase in the number of candidates taking a break after Class XII board exams. Data shows that last year, a little over 40% candidates belonged to the previous batches. Many among them had joined private coaching centres and paid a hefty fee to prepare for NEET, say experts.
Commenting on this, Educationist Prince Gajendra Babu said this figure will increase further in the coming years as parents, who are either unable to pay the fees demanded by private medical colleges or not sure about the quality of teaching in these private institutions, encourage their children to skip the counselling that particular year, prepare better next year and get a seat in government medical college the following year.
“Instead of spending ₹30 lakh to ₹35 lakh in private colleges for the MBBS course, some prefer spending ₹2 lakh to ₹3 lakh at coaching centres for two years to ensure that they get a government seat where the fees would be much less. But meritorious students from economically weaker sections of the society will be eliminated from the competition in the longer run,” Babu said.
G R Ravindranath, general secretary, Doctor’s Association for Social Equality, said the trend is unavoidable with the government relaxing rules pertaining to upper age limit to take up NEET .
However, this trend might change in the next few years given the rate of corporatisation and privitisation of the health care system in the country and the weakening of public healthcare by reducing fund allocation.
“Many small and medium size medical clinics would shut down becaue of these policies thereby bringing down the demand for doctors. Also, given the duration of the course (seven-and-a-half years including postgraduation), high cost of education and fewer job opportunities, would deter more students from pursuing medicine,” he told TOI.
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