The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical admissions.
The state government of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday, 8th Nov.
decided to file a special leave petition in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, 9th
Nov. seeking one-year exemption for the students from Andhra Pradesh taking the
National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical admissions.
The proposed NEET is to be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education
(CBSE) in April-May 2012 under the auspices of the Medical Council of India, and
will be held in only English and Hindi medium. Once the Union health ministry made
it clear a few weeks ago that all states have to do away with their respective entrance
examinations for medical seats and appear for the common exam to be held for admissions
across the country, the state government realized that the intermediate students
from the state will be at a disadvantage if they take the NEET on the issue of language
and syllabus.
Of the about 65,000-odd students who appear for the medical component of the Eamcet
exam every year, almost 25,000 of them appear for the exam in Telugu. Forced all
of a sudden to appear in a national test which has only English or Hindi as the
medium of instruction, these students will be severely handicapped. With regard
to the syllabus, in view of the difference in the syllabus between the CBSE and
Board of Intermediate Education, students from the state will have to study about
30% more in botany and zoology if they have to remain competitive in the NEET, while
the difference in the syllabus between the two is only about 5 to 10% when it comes
to physics and chemistry.
Keeping these factors in mind, the state wrote to the Union health ministry about
four days ago and sought exemption for students from AP to appear for the NEET at
least for two years. The idea is that in the meantime, the intermediate syllabus
too can be revised and those appearing for Eamcet in Telugu can also get time to
brush up their English in order to remain competitive while appearing for the all-India
medical test. However, the Union health ministry had declined the request on the
grounds that the Supreme Court is apprised of the matter and that no state can be
given exemption from the NEET.
However, it turns out that Tamil Nadu has already secured a permanent
exemption for the students from that state appearing for the NEET. State government
sources told TOI that AP lost out in securing such an exemption due to a communication
gap. The Union health ministry had sent a circular to the health wings of all the
states about the implementation of such an all-India exam some time back.
Courtesy: Times of India
