NEET cracked, but public colleges out of reach, Delhi govt school kids to give test another shot

NEW DELHI: Even though 569 students from Delhi government schools cleared the National Eligibility-cum-entrance Test (NEET) last year, data compiled by the government shows that only around 10% scored the cutoff necessary for admission to government medical colleges. With private institutions charging exorbitant fees, and a majority of students in Delhi government schools from low-income backgrounds, a majority of the students have been forced to reappear for the tests, in the hopes of securing a seat in a public medical institution.

As per data analysed by Hindustan Times, only 18 students scored 580 or above, out of 720, the usual cut-off for admissions to government medical colleges under the so-called general category. Nineteen others eligible under the reserved categories were ranked below 10,000, the usual cut-off trend for admission to government colleges.

Experts added that the cut-off for reserved seats mostly ranges between ranks 10,000-20,000 for Other Backward Classes (OBC), 50,000-60,000 for Scheduled Castes (SC), and 80,000-90,000 rank for Scheduled Tribes (ST) category in government colleges. Students with ranks below this can also secure admission if seats are not filled.

“This is the usual trend. It can fluctuate to a certain degree at times depending on the availability of seats,” said Mahesh Verma, vice-chancellor of Delhi’s Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, which has five undergraduate medical colleges affiliated to it.

Around 1.35 millions aspirants appeared for NEET last year for around 80,000 MBBS seats. In Delhi, approximately around 1,100 seats are available in eight government colleges.

According to preliminary data from Delhi’s education departentrance ment, 29 students of Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in Molarband cleared the medical exams. However, only two were able to get admitted to undergraduate medical courses, said the school’s principal Sujata Tamta.

“The updated numbers show that 42 students from our school cleared the tests. Two got admitted to government medical colleges in Delhi and two more enrolled in other medical professional courses. Most the others are preparing to reappear for the exam. Since most of our students come from low-income backgrounds, the students could not get admitted to private institutes, where the fees are exponentially higher than government colleges,” she said.

The scenario was similar in Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in Okhla’s Noor Nagar, where none of the 23 girls who qualified for NEET 2020 could opt for a degree in medicine in any college this year owing to financial constraints. For instance, 17-year-old Areeba Naeem, whose father works as an electrician in the neighbourhood, was eligible for multiple private institutes but the cheapest fee among these was ₹75 lakh, which was far beyond their means to pay.

“We are a family of five, and only one is an earning member. So I decided to take a drop year and prepare again,” said Naeem, adding that she was disappointed with her rank, because she knew it wouldn’t be enough for a government college.

School authorities said only one student 23 took admission in a pharmacy course at a polytechnic college.

Head of the school Mudasir Jahan said, “Our students are children of drivers, hotel staffers, vegetable vendors, cloth-sellers, among others. They could not take admission in private colleges where the fees are very high. We reached out to nongovernmental organisations and civil society members to arrange for coaching classes for these students,” she said.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said students seeking admission could opt for the Delhi government’s financial assistance programmes. “It’s good that our students are confident they will score better marks and make another attempt at NEET. It is significant that so many students are passing this exam. However we have loans and scholarships for students who are in need of financial support,” he said.

Anurag Tiwari, national academic director (medical) at Aakash Institute with nearly two decades of experience in the area, said qualifying for NEET only means that the students will be eligible for medical counselling. “Students getting 150 out of 720 will also be considered among those who have cleared the tests. This means they are eligible to participate in counselling. While their chances of getting into medical programmes in government colleges are low, these students can seek admission under the management quota in private colleges.”

IP University V-C Verma said, “Though there are over 800,000 eligible aspirants for nearly 100,000 medical seats, around 900 seats are vacant across deemed universities because of the high fees. There should be a mechanism to regulate the fee, so that meritorious students who cannot seek admission in government colleges can opt for private colleges.”

Only one member of my family earns. So I decided to take a drop year and prepare again.

a govt school student who cleared NEET last year