ALL ABOUT NATIONAL ELIGIBILITY AND ENTRANCE TEST
What is NEET? Introduced in 2016, NEET is an entrance examination conducted at the national level for students who wish to study MBBS and BDS courses in govt and private medical colleges. It replaced the state-level medical entrance examination and pre-medical test of the CBSE. Why was it introduced? The Supreme Court introduced it to end discretion in medical college admissions, which had resulted in corruption and malpractices. What was court’s intervention? Students had filed a plea in Madras high court, which stayed the declaration of results. The stay was subsequently lifted by the Supreme Court. The TN government also backed the students. What was suggested? To resolve the issue, the TN government proposed an ordinance seeking exemption from NEET for 2017-18 medical entrance in government medical colleges. Initially, the Centre supported the proposal but developed cold feet after the health ministry red-flagged it.
What ignited the issue again? Anitha, a student of TN education board, had filed the petition in Madras HC against NEET. She committed suicide on Friday after which there were protests across the state. Why is NEET problematic to state governments? Many states claimed that students of state boards will not get admission because of the national exam, which was based on the CBSE syllabus. They were also sceptical, saying that the state government education policies would not be enforced.