Initiative is not enough, feel teachers

The much-touted coaching centres to prepare thousands of State Board students across Tamil Nadu face the highly competitive National Eligibility cum Entrance Test are not on a par with private institutes – which are affordable only to a section because of the hefty fee they charge – putting these students from poor families at a serious disadvantage, say the teachers themselves. 

Experts say the government should look forward and plan for the coming years so as to address the widening gap between rich and poor students by revamping the syllabus, put in place a structured training programme and train even the trainers to ensure that more number of State Board students, especially from the rural areas, would at least be able to compete with their rich urban counterparts on an even keel. Terming the government-run coaching centres as just an eyewash Tamil Nadu Teachers Association president PK Illamaran said, “Unless the syllabus is changed for Classes 11 and 12, the students will not benefit from these coaching centres.” 

Charging that the government was not able to handle the issues surrounding the competitive examination efficiently, he added, “Even now, it is not too late. The government should start giving coaching in every school from Class 11 onwards. If that happens, many medical aspirants, especially those from the government schools, will benefit from it at least by 2020.” Even the recent announcement on providing mobile phone-based NEET coaching for students was “just a drama”, he criticised, wondering how the government decided on the initiative. 

According to Illamaran, most of the NEET co-ordinators appointed by the government were paid less. “Earlier, the government had appointed me to coach for NEET. However, the pay was not good, and was also irregular. Therefore, I quit the NEET coaching assignment and continued my regular job,” said a private school teacher seeking anonymity. 

Agreeing to these criticisms, P Janikaraman, member of the Parent Teachers Association of a government school in Anakaputhur in the suburbs, said the Education Department was keen only on the superficialities – the number of coaching centres, agreements entered into with medical institutions and amount spent for that. 

“They (authorities) do not see the reality. Though some classes are full, most of students including my son feel that NEET coaching should be conducted throughout the year. The few-week session will not help students face not only NEET but any other competitive exams,” he said. 

Malathy Balakrishnan, the director of academics of Sri Sankara Public School (CBSE) in Pammal added that the crash course would not aid the students in any manner.

“First teachers who were willing to coach NEET should be trained well. They should make the students understand the concepts as most of the questions in the NEET exams are indirect,” she said, adding that the coaching should be done over an extended period of two years. “Otherwise, poor students will find difficult to crack it,” she said. 

Noting that even the basic procedures were difficult for these students, Malathy sought to know how many students knew how to submit online application, which is mandatory for NEET. “It is a big procedure,” she pointed out.

As per regulations framed under the Indian Medical Council Act-1956 as amended in 2018 and the Dentists Act-1948 as amended in 2018, NEET will be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education for admissions to MBBS/BDS courses in medical and dental colleges run with the approval of Medical Council of India/Dental Council of India under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, except for AIIMS, Delhi, and JIPMER, Puducherry - the institutions established through an act of Parliament.