Abolishing NEET is one of the electoral pledges of the DMK. In June this year, the DMK government established a nine-member committee to “study whether the typical medical entrance test has actually affected the socially backward students in the past couple of years.” The committee, headed by previous judge A K Rajan, sent its report a month later on.

The percentage of students with a yearly family income of less than Rs 2.5 lakh dropped from 47.42% in 2016-17 to 41.05% in 2020-21. On the other hand, those whose annual household income was more than Rs 2.5 lakh increased from 52.11% to 58.95% in this period.

Before NEET, admission to medical colleges in Tamil Nadu was mainly based on board marks. Since 2017, the state has attempted to exempt itself from the test– through a regulation, litigation and protests. Just in the recently, there have actually been 2 suicides in the state reportedly related to the entryway test.

According to the committees report, the share of English-medium school students in medical colleges has actually increased from 85.12% to 98.01% given that NEET. On the other hand, Tamil-medium school trainees now make up simply 1.99%, below 14.88% four years earlier.

On Monday, Chief Minister M K Stalin introduced a Bill in the Assembly seeking exemption for Tamil Nadu students from the centralised medical entrance examination. The Bill was passed and now needs the Presidents assent to be implemented.

THE PROPORTION of students from rural locations, financially weaker backgrounds, Tamil-medium schools, and state board affiliated schools in Tamil Nadus medical colleges has decreased significantly after the National Eligibility orgasm Entryway Test (NEET) was presented in 2017-18, according to information crunched by a government-appointed committee.

” In 2020-21, 99% of the prospects who got a medical seat in Tamil Nadu received some form of coaching. Of these, close to 3 quarters certified the test after 2 or more efforts. This indicates a majority of those clearing NEET in our state have actually spent lakhs on training. How can you anticipate trainees from villages and low-income families to take on them,” he told The Indian Express.

Students from CBSE-affiliated schools benefited more than state board students, according to the panel. Before NEET, 98.23% of students getting into medical colleges were from state board schools, and less than 1% were from CBSE affiliated schools. Now, CBSE students account for 38.84%, while those from state board schools make up 59.41% of the admission pie.

According to Professor Jawahar Nesan, a member of the committee, rural students are now especially disadvantaged because they can not pay for coaching classes to clear the entryway test.

Trainees from CBSE-affiliated schools benefited more than state board trainees, according to the panel. Before NEET, 98.23% of students entering medical colleges were from state board schools, and less than 1% were from CBSE affiliated schools. Now, CBSE trainees account for 38.84%, while those from state board schools make up 59.41% of the admission pie. This, the panel feels, is since NEET is mainly based on CBSE curriculum.

The nine-member panel, tasked by the state government to assess the impact of NEET on medical admissions, found that the proportion of rural students fell from an average of 61.45% (pre-NEET) to 50.81% (post-NEET).

On average, government school trainees made up 1.12% of the first-year MBBS batch in Tamil Nadu pre-NEET. Last year, the state federal government introduced a 7.5% horizontal appointment for state-run school students.

On average, government school trainees made up 1.12% of the first-year MBBS batch in Tamil Nadu pre-NEET. Last year, the state federal government presented a 7.5% horizontal booking for state-run school trainees.

The panels findings formed the basis of the Tamil Nadu governments transfer to ditch NEET for admission to MBBS programs in the state.

Discounting the argument that NEET guarantees quality checks, he said: “We have actually evaluated the performance of students in the MBBS programme prior to and after NEET. Those who can be found in based on their board marks carry out partially better than those who came in through NEET. When theres barely any difference in classroom efficiency then the quality argument in favour of NEET doesnt hold.”

Following a Supreme Court ruling, NEET is the only single-window assessment for entry into any medical school in the country. It entered into result from the scholastic year 2017-18.