Final Decision On NEET After Ongoing Feedback Process: MCI Board Member
The Maharashtra government has yet to take a policy stance
on the Medical Council of India's (MCI) proposal to introduce a National Eligibility
and Entrance Exam (NEET) for MBBS admissions from 2012-13.
A meeting of different stakeholders, including students and parents representatives
and legislators, has been called by the minister for medical education, Vijaykumar
Gavit, to finalise the policy decision, officiating Director of Medical Education
and Research (DMER) Pravin Shingare told TOI on Friday (5th August) We expect a
policy decision soon, he said. The government’s approach will be for safeguarding
the interests of students, he added.
The government's stance is crucial considering that MCIs proposal, which has yet
to take final shape, has triggered considerable worry among existing Std. XII students
about the syllabus prepared by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for
NEET. The prime concern relates to a perceived gap between the existing Std. XII
syllabus in Maharashtra and the one proposed for NEET.
The Maharashtra Health and Technology Common Entrance Test (MHTCET), which is the
existing combined entrance exam for health sciences, engineering and pharmacy degree
courses in the state, will also go if NEET is introduced from 2012.
Coaching class operators, who find themselves flooded with queries by students about
the entrance exam, have expressed the view that medical course aspirants from Maharashtra
will be at a great disadvantage if the proposed test becomes a reality from year
2012.
The MCI, which informed the Supreme Court on July 25 that it proposed to introduce
NEET from 2012-13 (thus triggering concern among coaching class operators and students),
appears in no undue hurry to push its decision through.
"We have the Supreme Courts all-important go-ahead for the proposed test but we
want to take a more democratic approach to introduce the same. We are open to ideas
and suggestions from different quarters across the country before a final decision
is announced, “said Rajeev Yeravdekar, member of MCIs board of governors.
He said, The MCI has posted the proposed syllabus on its official website and has
invited online feedback and suggestions relating to it. The feedback can be mailed
to: neet-ug@mciindia.org by August
11.
Yeravdekar said, Issues about the proposed entrance test, raised in Maharashtra,
cannot be seen in isolation. The MCI has to take a comprehensive view of all the
feedback and it has already got a lot of response so far. Several states like Gujarat,
West Bengal and Tamil Nadu have their own set of problems relating to the test.
The MCI will soon make its final position clear once the ongoing process of feedback
collection is completed, Yeravdekar said.A task force of the council will work on
the suggestions and finalise a report on the proposed entrance test, which will
be forwarded to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare soon, he added.
Courtesy: Times of India
