Govt.-sponsored NEET coaching classes register poor attendance
Dip in numbers is probably because of a series of holidays in the recent past: CEO
25/01/2020, SANJANA GANESH,MADURAI
Although there are 15 centres providing Tamil Nadu government-sponsored National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) coaching in Madurai district, students who regularly attend classes are a very few, according to teachers conducting the classes.
According to an official from the Education department, a total of 980 students showed interest in being part of the State-sponsored coaching every weekend until the run-up to the exam in April.
However, there are no official records of the number of students regularly attending the classes. One of the teachers says that there are usually 40 to 50 children who are assigned to each coaching centre. Policy dictates that there should be at least one such centre for each union.
Writer and teacher Libi Aranya said that in some centres with a sanctioned strength of 40 students, not even one-fourth turns up to classes. He attributes them to a number of reasons and says that the government-sponsored coaching bears the mark of systemic failure.
“Government teachers are deputed on rotation basis for coaching in their respective unions. Without a dedicated set of teachers to understand the performance of these students, it may be impossible for specialised training and proper continuity of lessons,” he says.
He adds that another major flaw in the process of coaching is that students barely get between 30 and 40 sessions overall to supplement their regular education and later write the NEET.
“Anyone who has attempted the exam will clearly state that 30 sessions with a week’s gap will hardly make a difference to the preparation. Students need rigorous and intense training to crack this exam as their regular syllabus is different and as difficult to write. Science students especially have to study several volumes to get a good score in the board exam and later write NEET too,” he says.
State Coordinator of the Save Higher Education Movement of Tamil Nadu R.Murali says that though the idea is to appeal to students from rural areas to take up the exam, there is a confusion and fear taking up the exam based on the pass percentage from previous years. He says that lack of proper Tamil NEET coaching material is another barrier for socially disadvantaged students from rural areas.
Mr. Aranya says that the Tamil Ndu government is choosing to assess the success of those writing NEET exams based on those who have cleared cut-off whereas this must ideally be based on the number of these students getting seats in medical colleges.
“Through the previous system, rural students at least had proper windows to achieve their dreams. The teachers were trained in the syllabus and enough time was given for aspiring doctors with special a coaching on school campuses. However, with poor results and poorer enrolment rates for government coaching, the dream of becoming doctors may become inaccessible to these students,” he says.
District Chief Educational Officer (CEO) R. Swaminathan says that the dip in numbers is probably because of the series of holidays in the recent past.
He says that coaching is going on as scheduled for all students in these unions. Another source from the department says that Headmasters and Headmistresses from unions with poor attendance are personally called by District Education Officers and the CEO to boost the number of students attending these classes.
Dip in numbers is probably because of a series of holidays in the recent past: CEO
25/01/2020, SANJANA GANESH,MADURAI
Although there are 15 centres providing Tamil Nadu government-sponsored National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) coaching in Madurai district, students who regularly attend classes are a very few, according to teachers conducting the classes.
According to an official from the Education department, a total of 980 students showed interest in being part of the State-sponsored coaching every weekend until the run-up to the exam in April.
However, there are no official records of the number of students regularly attending the classes. One of the teachers says that there are usually 40 to 50 children who are assigned to each coaching centre. Policy dictates that there should be at least one such centre for each union.
Writer and teacher Libi Aranya said that in some centres with a sanctioned strength of 40 students, not even one-fourth turns up to classes. He attributes them to a number of reasons and says that the government-sponsored coaching bears the mark of systemic failure.
“Government teachers are deputed on rotation basis for coaching in their respective unions. Without a dedicated set of teachers to understand the performance of these students, it may be impossible for specialised training and proper continuity of lessons,” he says.
He adds that another major flaw in the process of coaching is that students barely get between 30 and 40 sessions overall to supplement their regular education and later write the NEET.
“Anyone who has attempted the exam will clearly state that 30 sessions with a week’s gap will hardly make a difference to the preparation. Students need rigorous and intense training to crack this exam as their regular syllabus is different and as difficult to write. Science students especially have to study several volumes to get a good score in the board exam and later write NEET too,” he says.
State Coordinator of the Save Higher Education Movement of Tamil Nadu R.Murali says that though the idea is to appeal to students from rural areas to take up the exam, there is a confusion and fear taking up the exam based on the pass percentage from previous years. He says that lack of proper Tamil NEET coaching material is another barrier for socially disadvantaged students from rural areas.
Mr. Aranya says that the Tamil Ndu government is choosing to assess the success of those writing NEET exams based on those who have cleared cut-off whereas this must ideally be based on the number of these students getting seats in medical colleges.
“Through the previous system, rural students at least had proper windows to achieve their dreams. The teachers were trained in the syllabus and enough time was given for aspiring doctors with special a coaching on school campuses. However, with poor results and poorer enrolment rates for government coaching, the dream of becoming doctors may become inaccessible to these students,” he says.
District Chief Educational Officer (CEO) R. Swaminathan says that the dip in numbers is probably because of the series of holidays in the recent past.
He says that coaching is going on as scheduled for all students in these unions. Another source from the department says that Headmasters and Headmistresses from unions with poor attendance are personally called by District Education Officers and the CEO to boost the number of students attending these classes.
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