19 govt school students get MBBS seats in the state

19 govt school students get MBBS seats in the state 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  03.10.2024 

Chennai : At least 19 govt school students, in addition to 680 candidates under the 7.5% quota meant for them, secured MBBS seats in Tamil Nadu in 2023, state directorate of medical education said. Officials said there were 8,316 medical seats available under the state quota in 2023, of which 683 MBBS and BDS seats were allotted to govt school students under the 7.5% quota. Besides these, 78 students from govt schools secured admission in various medical colleges, including govt quota seats in selffinancing colleges, a senior official said. “Of the 78 students, four of them got it under the disability quota, nine students secured admissions in govt medical colleges, and six of them secured MBBS seats in self-financing medical colle ges. The remaining 59 got admission to BDS seats. One among them was allotted a seat in a govt college,” the official said.

 Experts noted that the performance of govt school students has improved over the last four years. When NEET came into force, the number of govt school students entering medical college dropped to less than 10. The cut-off for medical admissions has been increasing under all categories, making admissions challenging each year. The number of repeaters securing seats under these quotas is also very high. In 2024, almost all the top 10 candidates in the 7.5% quota were repeaters, and the average number of repeaters ingovt school quota is nearly 80%. Data also showed that students from state board syllabus fared almost at par with CBSE students. For in stance, 4,140 students who secured seats were from CBSE, 4,030 students were from the state board, and 39 others were from other boards. However, the directorate warns that not all information it has is verified.

 “We had sought information from students on whether they attended NEET coaching in private tutorials. We wanted this information for policy matters. Many students told us they haven’t attended, and we are unable to verify this,” the official said.  In 2023, 3,248 candidates who secured admissions said they did not attend NEET coaching, while 3,248 students said they attended coaching. “While we can verify the school, board, or if they are repeaters, there is no registry to check if they took private coaching. It is selfdeclared information,” he added.