Re-entry NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test): Opportunity and concerns.
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Date
2016-05
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Abstract
The recent judgment on NEET will go a long way in reducing
gross malpractice and corruption in admissions to MBBS and
postgraduate medical courses. It is also an opportunity to improve
the quality of the tests conducted.
Currently, medical schools in India have different policies for
admission to government-run and privately-run institutions. There
are 200 government medical schools (27 180 seats) and 212
private medical schools (25 535 seats), with a total capacity to
admit 52 715 students.1
In 2013, the Medical Council of India
(MCI) notified the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)
for admission to MBBS and postgraduate medical courses.2
Through NEET, aspirants could appear for a single examination
and apply for admission to any college of their choice across the
country, except in the states of Andhra Pradesh, and Jammu and
Kashmir. NEET also specified that students would be admitted on
the basis of the examination scores alone and no extraneous
factors would come into play. NEET has been held only once in
2013, following which it was struck down by the Supreme Court.
On 11 April 2016, a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court
recalled its controversial 2013 judgment which struck down the
common entrance examination for all medical colleges in India.
NEET was introduced with the purpose of reducing the mental
and financial burden on medical aspirants, who had to appear in
a number of entrance examinations across the country—at the allIndia
level, state level or private medical school level. Students
had the option to appear for 17 different examinations, each set at
various levels of difficulty. The process was costly, cumbersome
and confusing, with students of varying academic capabilities
being admitted to medical schools through a long-drawn admission
process. Another important reason was to prevent financial
malpractices, such as compulsory donations, profiteering and
capitation fees. NEET would emphasize merit as the only criterion
for the selection of students for medical admissions. Private
medical schools were permitted an approved fee structure that
could be higher than public-funded medical schools. Private
institutions would definitely be affected by this judgment, and
would argue that it violated their right to practise any profession
and that their admission procedure was fair, transparent and nonexploitative.
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Supe Avinash, Singh Tejinder. Re-entry NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test): Opportunity and concerns. National Medical Journal of India. 2016 May-Jun; 29(3): 158-159.