On September 13, the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly passed the Anti-NEET Bill 2021 to scrape NEET examinations in the state. Students who wish to pursue medical courses will now get admissions on the basis of marks secured in HSC+2 or equivalent examination.
Read further for details.
Entrance Test Scrapped in Tamil Nadu
Yesterday, the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly passed a bill to scrape the all India pre-medical entrance test in the state. Lakhs of medical aspirants appear for the exams every year. This step has been taken in view of the pressure students face about clearing the highly competitive test. According to state CM MK Stalin, NEET is a major issue in the country. He also stated that his government has been making efforts to curb the problem.
“We took steps to cancel NEET exam as soon as we came to power. Govt is taking all constructive steps to cancel NEET exam & enroll students in medical education on basis of Class 12 marks. I request you all to support the Bill (seeking permanent exemption from NEET),” Stalin further said. (quote from Live Mint)
What The Bill Proposes
With the bill becoming law, NEET will get eliminated as an eligibility test for seeking admission in medical institutions. Instead, marks secured in HSC+2 or equivalent examinations will be considered for the same. This method was followed previously for medical education admissions in the country, before NEET was implemented. As per the bill, “NEET is not an equitable method of admission”.
“It has been passed to ensure social justice, upholding quality and equal opportunity to protect all vulnerable students’ community to being discriminated and bring them to the mainstream education system”, the bill read.
NEET and medical college admissions are covered by List III of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. This gives both the Parliament and state legislatures the jurisdiction to enact legislation. When there is a “repugnancy” or “conflict” between a Central law and a State legislation, the provisions of the Central law take precedence, according to the Constitution.
Increased Instances of Student Suicides
A 19-year old NEET aspirant died by suicide on Sept.12, Sunday. The boy who passed away was a labourer’s son who succumbed to the pressure of not being able to pass the test after two attempts. Following the incident, Chief Minister SK Stalin said, “I appeal to students to not take any drastic decisions.”
“We attempted to assess the temporal correlation by relating the date of suicide with the dates of NEET examination in 2018, 2019, and 2020. About 55% (n = 10) of the total suicides from 2018 and 2019 occurred in the month the result was declared”, reported a research article in Sage Journals. Statistics like these point to the larger problematic connection between exams and students’ deteriorating mental health.
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