Wait-and-watch situation for students

S Sreeram, a 17-year old from Kanniyakumari joined coaching classes in May to prepare for NEET exam. Having secured 52 per cent, he is hoping to get a seat in a private medical college. “There are no good coaching centres in Kanniyakumari. I came to Chennai in the first week of May and joined a crash course. I am happy that all the hard work has paid off,” he said. Meanwhile, NEET coaching centres are analysing their performance. “Over 95 per cent of students from our academy have passed the test and we have to see in which college they will get admission,” said Sam George, educationist and CEO of EXTEL Academy. Centres are also trying to make sense of the counselling.  

C Nagasurya Teja of Jupiter Education Academy said, “Five of our students have scored over 40 per cent, but we are still unclear about quota-based segregation during counselling. We will have to wait and watch.” Some of those who failed are now looking at B Sc Nursing and other courses, said some coaching centre officials. 

HAZY PROCESS 

When asked on the way forward, Dr J S N Murthy, former Vice Chancellor, Sri Ramachandra Medical College, said,  “It was expected that the CBSE students will have a little advantage over state board students. Many students are still unaware of what to expect in a NEET exam. Admissions for the Indian quota and Deemed Universities will be done by the Director General of Health Service (DGHS). So far, applications and modalities have not yet been worked out. We were asked to send  the number of seats and their break-up to DGHS, which we have done. It may take a little while for them to complete the process. As this is the second time, it will be comparatively better than last year. However, it may take a little while to streamline the entire process. Students will still be unsure of where to apply.” 

Many rued the poor preparation and other constraints. “We have not prepared our students for the entrance exam. The standard of education in state board is lower than CBSE. Though the students were given the opportunity to write in Tamil, most of the questions were not taught to them during school. Even last year, our students fared poorly with only 47 per cent clearing the exam. To add to it, the question papers were different in different languages, which was unfair. The state government should increase the standard of education and improve the syllabus to prepare its students better for competitive exams,” said Dr G R Ravindranath, General Secretary, Doctors’ Association for Social Equality.