Old attitudes hold back NEET show: Experts
TN’s efforts to better equip students have helped but experts say more needs to be done
Published: 06th June 2019 06:25 AM |
For representational purposes. (Photo | Nagaraja Gadekal)
By Express News Service
CHENNAI: A hangover of the ‘old State board syllabus attitude’ is the reason behind lack of top rankers from Tamil Nadu in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) despite an overall improvement in performance, say experts.
“The government over the last two years launched weekend coaching centres, video preparatory courses and a residential programme for bright students from government schools,” said a senior official from the School Education Department.
While the State had opposed NEET, it adapted and revamped the syllabus to better equip students. Now there appears to be an acceptance of NEET, evidenced by fewer protests and a rise in number of students taking the test.
However, this does not mean students have developed the skills required to clear the exam, said Jayaprakash Gandhi, a career consultant.
“The old State syllabus pushed students to learn by rote. The government revamped the syllabus to combat this and we have seen a significant improvement. However, this is not enough,” he said.
The rise in qualification rate means that competition to clear NEET is increasing, said educationalist Prince Gajendra Babu adding that the high qualification rate would lead to more rejections as the number of medical seats in the State is limited.
“Students who can afford better coaching will keep performing better, while students with less access will have to work harder to contest,” he said, pointing out that this pressure is what leads to suicides.
Indeed there has been a general feeling in the State that the competitive exam model of NEET has pushed students towards private coaching, which is out of the reach of government school students.
Earlier in the State, the board exam score alone was used for medical counselling, thereby giving students from government school a fair chance. Last year, only 1,337 government school students in the State cleared NEET. However, this was a significant increase compared to 2017 when less than 10 government school students cleared the test. Given the pressures this puts on government school students, former Anna University Vice-Chancellor D Anandakrishnan said the State should nip the problem in the bud by coupling the State coaching programmes with counselling for the students.
31,239 took test in Tamil
Meanwhile, although 79.31 per cent of the candidates in the country wrote the NEET in English and 11.84 per cent took it in Hindi, 8.86 per cent of the students took it in regional languages, of which nearly a fourth (2.06 per cent) – 31,239 – took the exam in Tamil.
TN’s efforts to better equip students have helped but experts say more needs to be done
Published: 06th June 2019 06:25 AM |
For representational purposes. (Photo | Nagaraja Gadekal)
By Express News Service
CHENNAI: A hangover of the ‘old State board syllabus attitude’ is the reason behind lack of top rankers from Tamil Nadu in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) despite an overall improvement in performance, say experts.
“The government over the last two years launched weekend coaching centres, video preparatory courses and a residential programme for bright students from government schools,” said a senior official from the School Education Department.
While the State had opposed NEET, it adapted and revamped the syllabus to better equip students. Now there appears to be an acceptance of NEET, evidenced by fewer protests and a rise in number of students taking the test.
However, this does not mean students have developed the skills required to clear the exam, said Jayaprakash Gandhi, a career consultant.
“The old State syllabus pushed students to learn by rote. The government revamped the syllabus to combat this and we have seen a significant improvement. However, this is not enough,” he said.
The rise in qualification rate means that competition to clear NEET is increasing, said educationalist Prince Gajendra Babu adding that the high qualification rate would lead to more rejections as the number of medical seats in the State is limited.
“Students who can afford better coaching will keep performing better, while students with less access will have to work harder to contest,” he said, pointing out that this pressure is what leads to suicides.
Indeed there has been a general feeling in the State that the competitive exam model of NEET has pushed students towards private coaching, which is out of the reach of government school students.
Earlier in the State, the board exam score alone was used for medical counselling, thereby giving students from government school a fair chance. Last year, only 1,337 government school students in the State cleared NEET. However, this was a significant increase compared to 2017 when less than 10 government school students cleared the test. Given the pressures this puts on government school students, former Anna University Vice-Chancellor D Anandakrishnan said the State should nip the problem in the bud by coupling the State coaching programmes with counselling for the students.
31,239 took test in Tamil
Meanwhile, although 79.31 per cent of the candidates in the country wrote the NEET in English and 11.84 per cent took it in Hindi, 8.86 per cent of the students took it in regional languages, of which nearly a fourth (2.06 per cent) – 31,239 – took the exam in Tamil.
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