The NEET, discriminatory and lacks academic validity

 

The NEET, discriminatory and lacks academic validity

On September 13,2021, the Tamil Nadu Assembly had passed a Bill seeking exemption of the state students from the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)- the centralized medical entrance examination. The NEET, which came into effect from 2017-18, is the only single-window examination for admission to medical colleges in India. Passing of the Bill is an assertion of the State’s right to run medial institutions and select students according to its health care needs.

The Bill opposes the NEET because it “undermined the diverse societal representation in MBBS and higher medical studies, favouring mainly the affordable and affluent sections of the society and thwarting the dreams of underprivileged social groups.”  The Bill aims to ensure “social justice, uphold equality and equal opportunity, protect all vulnerable student communities from being discriminated” and bring them into the “mainstream of medical and dental education and in turn ensure a robust public health care across the state, particularly the rural areas.” It seeks to provide admission to undergraduate courses in medicine, dentistry, Indian medicine and homeopathy in Tamil Nadu on the basis of marks obtained in XII Board examination.
 
In November 2019, the division bench of Madras High Court comprising Justices N. Kirubakaran and P. Velmurugan observed that the NEET had benefited only students who depended on coaching classes, putting rural students in a disadvantageous position, and that only 48 students got medical seats without attending coaching classes, whereas 3,033 students who attended coaching classes secured admissions to government colleges. The bench said it was shocking only a negligible number of candidates secured admission without attending coaching. That “means medical education is not available to the poor people and it is available only to those who underwent coaching classes by spending lakhs of rupees.”

The DMK government appointed a nine-member Committee in June 2021, headed by a retired High Court Judge A.K. Rajan to examine the impact of NEET on medical aspirants, who are socially and economically deprived. The Committee members, inter alia, included TN Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan, General Secretary of Doctors' Association G.R. Rabindranath and Director of Medical Education Narayana Babu. The Committee which submitted its report to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on July 14 suggested cancelling the selection of medical aspirants based on the NEET markings.
 
According to the Committee, the elimination of NEET “will ensure social justice and protect all vulnerable student communities from being discriminated in admission to medical education programmes>" The social groups highly affected were the students of Tamil medium, rural background, government schools, having parental income less than Rs.2.5 lakh and socially depressed and disadvantaged groups like MBC, SC, and ST.  The Committee concludes the NEET is against the disadvantaged groups.
 
These are some other findings of the Committee:
 
The proportion of rural students fell from an average of 61.45% (pre-NEET) to 50.81% (post-NEET).  And the proportion of students from rural areas, economically weaker backgrounds, Tamil-medium schools, and state board affiliated schools in Tamil Nadu’s medical colleges has decreased significantly after the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) introduced four years ago. The share of English-medium school students in medical colleges has increased from 85% to 98%. On the other hand, Tamil-medium school students dropped to 1.99%- down from 14.88%. The proportion of students with an annual family income of less than Rs.2.5 lakh decreased from 47.42% in 2016-17 to 41% in 2020-21, while those whose annual family income was more than Rs.2.5 lakh increased from 52% to 59%.  The students from CBSE schools benefited more than state board students. Before the NEET, 98.23% of students getting into medical colleges were from state board schools, and less than 1% were from CBSE schools. Now, the CBSE students account for 39%, while those from the state board schools make up 59.4% of the admission pie, because the NEET is mainly based on CBSE curriculum.
 
Thus the “NEET skewed results in favour of English-medium, well-off, urban, CBSE students”, as reported by the Indian Express (16/9).  The NEET is discriminatory and lacks academic validity.  It is not a level playing field, favours the students who spend a fortunate of parents on coaching classes, which the students from rural areas, poor and marginalised sections can’t afford.
 
The Committee goes on warning that-
 
“If NEET continues for a few more years, the health care system of Tamil Nadu will be very badly affected. There may not be enough doctors for being posted at the various Primary Health Centres. There may not be enough expert doctors for being employed in the Government Hospitals. Further the rural and urban poor may not be able to join the medical courses. Ultimately Tamil Nadu may go back to pre-independence days, where in small towns and in villages only “bare-foot‟ doctors catering for the needs were available.”
 
These findings of an expert committee are too serious to be dismissed. This is the story in all states in India, though not many state governments are voicing their dissent against the NEET so vocally as the Tamil Nadu government, as they have not studied the impact of NEET.
 
The results of the NEET show that its objective of ensuring merit-based admissions, through a fair and transparent process is defeated.  The NEET has reduced the number of Class XII students getting admitted to medical colleges.  Only students who attended coaching classes could get admission. The first-generation students could hardly clear the NEET, with the wealthy and powerful rigging the system to perpetuate their privilege.  The professional classes have figured out how to pass their advantage to their children, converting meritocracy into hereditary aristocracy. There can be no competition between a race-horse and cart-pulling horse. It would be shocking to know the socio-economic background of the students cracking the NEET.
 
It is a constitutional obligation of states to ensure quality public health. The doctors from metropolises are unwilling to serve in remote villages. For want of qualified doctors and public hospitals and health centres, the people in villages are forced to travel to distant metro cities even for ordinary ailments. The poor public health system in India will further deteriorate due to the NEET.  No one complained about the earlier system that produced many eminent doctors, who didn’t have to go through an All-India examination.
 
The policy of admission based on the NEET needs review. It is imperative that admission to medical colleges is given on the basis of marks obtained in XII Board Examination by states. The total seats can be divided between the government colleges and private institutions, depending on number of medical colleges and seats, which differ from state to state.  For instance, Tamil Nadu has the highest number of medical colleges of 26 in the country with 3600 MBBS seats, compared to 3 medical colleges and 600 MBBS seats in Punjab. If the admission to medial colleges is based on XII performance, the ignominy of toppers at the XII Board examination, who aspire to become doctors, committing suicide, as has been the case in Tamil Nadu, could be averted.  It is highly deplorable that the toppers at the Board exams could not get admission to medical colleges, because of the NEET..
 
Though the English medium-coaching class dependent rich students will continue to   benefit by the process of admission suggested above, it will ensure a level playing field and benefit the poor students with vernacular medium background.  It is a misnomer that one single window centralised examination is a panacea to malpractices in admission to medical colleges in a multi- linguistic society.  We know how the NRIs and affluent sections buy medical seats for a premium, scoring less marks in the NEET than those with higher marks denied admission.

It is foolhardy to suggest state boards opt for the CBSE curriculum, supposedly to help students better prepared for the NEET. It is not desirable, as the state boards curriculum often reflects linguistic and cultural diversity and history of particular states. Then what will happen to the State Boards? What is the relevance of students studying in their mother tongue? Why should states spend huge tax-payers money to set up medical colleges?