Number of NEET Exam Application Dropped by 17 percent in Tamil Nadu

Students from government schools in the state who wish to take up medicine as a career are left in the lurch as no government-sponsored coaching for Tamil Nadu students are functional.

A recent survey done by the National Testing Agency, states that the applicants for the NEET 2020 in the state of Tamil Nadu have dropped by 17% compared to the previous year.

Government school student aspirants in the state who wish to take up the profession of medicine as a career are certainly left in the lurch as the coaching classes courtesy the government of Tamil Nadu have stopped. Ever since the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) was made mandatory for seeking admissions to the various undergraduate programs in the medical colleges in the country, it has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons in the state of Tamil Nadu.

From students committing suicide because of the NEET to the government of the state strongly opposing the respective examinations being made compulsory, Tamil Nadu has been a victim to several events concerning the NEET.

Doing the rounds in the various sources of the media is the fact that the coaching classes to train students to crack one of the toughest competitive examinations continue to remain suspended in multiple locations in Tamil Nadu. This development comes at a time when there are less than three months before aspirants attempt the examination. If reports are to be believed, the coaching classes that are funded by the state government are not functional since the month of December last year.

Academicians, who have been following the respective development, closely echo the opinion that either directly or indirectly, as many as 20,000 medical aspirants who study in the various government schools in the state are impacted. Those who are enrolled in the various public schools will register for coaching classes at private institutes and somehow get trained. It is the government school students who are the worst affected by the move.

The NEET 2020 is scheduled to be held in the first week of May. Meanwhile, the government of Tamil Nadu is doing all that it can in order to ensure that medical aspirants from the state are exempted from attempting the respective examination to acquire admission in medical colleges. The Tamil Nadu state government continues to oppose the NEET despite its strong political ties that it has with the present government in power at the center.

In opposition to the respective examination, the state government submitted a petition with the Supreme Court, thus challenging section 10(D) of the Indian Medical Council (IMC) Act. However, as per the latest developments, the petition is still pending with the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the NEET continues to be conducted as the IMC Act underwent an amendment.