NEET: The contentious exam deciding the fate of India’s doctors

When India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan took oath in the new session of parliament, several opposition MPs chanted” NEET” and” shame”.

The Members were protesting against a subsequent controversy that has smeared a significant regional exam run by Mr. Pradhan’s government.

Every season, hundreds of thousands of aspiring doctors create the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test ( College ), or NEET- UG, whose report decides who gets admitted to medical schools.

The exam has seen fierce opposition and protests since its inception, but snowballed into a particularly huge scandal this year after thousands of students got abnormally high marks when results were declared – making it hard for even high scorers to get seats in good colleges.

Since then, a host of problems have been raised with the way the exam was held, and allegations of paper leaks and large-scale cheating have left many students dejected.

One of them is Komal, an 18- yr- aged from the northeastern state of Haryana, who had taken a gap year to analyze for NEET and got what would typically be considered a “decent” score. But because she is afraid she wo n’t be able to get a seat, she has taken a BSc degree course as a backup plan.

” I have decided to take the test next time afterwards, but I’m scared that this discussion is repeat”, she says.

Two states, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, have asked that the test be canceled and the older system of independent testing been reinstated in response to activists ‘ demands for a exam.

The Tamil Nadu legislative assembly, which has seen the biggest protests, has also passed a resolution in opposition to the test, which favors students from wealthy and urban areas, resulting in fewer physicians who want to work in less developed, remote areas.

As the opposition – including leader in parliament Rahul Gandhi – continues to protest, demanding a discussion on NEET, the issue shows no sign of dying down.

Prior to the introduction of NEET, a national exam was held to determine eligibility for top government programs like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences ( Aiims ). Some states even conducted their personal examination, while others relied on the effects of a significant school-leaving test.

There are three goals behind a common health exam, according to K Sujatha Rao, who was the national health secretary in 2010 when NEET was officially informed by a Congress-led government. These include standardizing the academic competence of students, many of whom turned out to be poor in fundamental subjects, reducing the number of entrance exams students had to take, and removing the so-called capitation fee, extra payment, that private colleges charge.

Many states opposed NEET, saying it took away their autonomy in college admissions.

The Supreme Court of India backed this claim in 2013 when it ruled that the exam had already been taken down ( by that point, one round of NEET had already been held ). Additionally, it added that a single test would have an impact on the “level playing field” due to the educational disparity between urban and rural areas. The court argued that the country needed “barefoot doctors” who would be able to serve in remote areas and that just “academic brilliance” was not enough in medicine.

However, a court bench that heard the constitution three years later recalled the order. The court’s opinion, just four pages long, did not provide any substantive reasons, only saying that the 2013 bench did not follow” some binding precedents” and that” there was no discussion” among the judges before the order was pronounced.

NEET has therefore been conducted annually and has replaced all other medical entrance exams since 2016

In 2017, the suicide of a student in Tamil Nadu sparked outrage and let to huge protests against the exam. The daughter of a daily wage labourer, the 17-year-old had scored 98% in her school-leaving exam – which should have got her admitted to a good medical college – but her NEET score wasn’t good enough. She was part of a petition in the Supreme Court which argued that the exam hurt students from poorer, rural backgrounds, but the court ruled that admissions should go ahead based on NEET scores.

Tamil Nadu has the highest number of medical colleges in any state in India and has protested against the exam from the start. The state’s governing party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has been vocal against NEET and claims that 26 students in the state have died from suicide since it was introduced.

In 2021, a high-level committee, tasked with studying the impact of NEET in Tamil Nadu, recommended abolishing the exam. It said it found that NEET disproportionately favoured students who studied in private English-medium schools, belonged to affluent and urban backgrounds, and could afford extra coaching classes.

According to the report, this would “very adversely affect” the state’s medical system, leading to a shortage of doctors in government hospitals and rural areas.

Sathriyan, 23, says he is among those who suffered because he could n’t afford private coaching. He attempted to write NEET five more times, starting in 2019, but he failed despite performing well on his academic tests.

He claims that he studied alone and was unable to pass the exam. He further states that he has since given up on his desire to become a doctor and works as a postman in his village.

In principle, says Ms Rao, the former health secretary, one exam across the country is” not a bad idea”.

But the current disparity in education “puts rural students at a disadvantage, worsening our rural and primary health centres”, she says.

” A top-notch student who passes the exam would ideally like to work in private hospitals or travel abroad. They wo n’t be able to work in remote areas.

She believes that Tamil Nadu’s demand that the results of a school-leaving exam be used as the criteria for admission to medical colleges “is not a bad option at all” in the short run.

“]Tamil Nadu] had one of the best health systems in the country before NEET as well”, she adds.

But others say that the exam has its advantages.

” NEET has absolved students from preparing for various state exams, and I think it should continue”, says Dr Aviral Mathur, president of Federation of Resident Doctors ‘ Association.

One exam is a better option, according to Dr. Lakshya Mittal, president of the United Doctors ‘ Front Association, because it eliminates having to apply for multiple exams and travel to various states to take them.

But both agree that NEET’s implementation has to improve.

According to Dr. Mittal,” the government needs to stop paper leaks and the exam needs to be organized better.”