Only a few govt students to get MBBS seats this year

Chennai: Despite coaching thousands of students from government and government-aided schools to face the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Neet), the prospect of these students getting a medical seat remains more or less the same as last year, around ten of them have a chance to study the MBBS course this year.

Of 1,344 students from government and government-aided schools who qualified in Neet, only 10 scored over 300 marks and 42 over 200 marks in the common medical entrance test, sources revealed. In 2017, five students - two students in government medical colleges and three students in government quota seats in private medical colleges got MBBS admissions based on Neet marks.

A comparison with last year's cut-off marks in MBBS admissions to the state quota seats points that nine students from the SC category who had scored over 200 marks are likely to get MBBS admissions since the cut-off for this category was 210 marks in 2017. Two students in this category scored over 300 marks.

In the BC category, three students who scored over 300 marks have a chance to get admission. Last year's BC category cut-off was 360 marks. Likewise, the five MBC students who scored over 200 marks also have an outside chance.

 The ST category cut-off was also 210 last year. But not a single student from this category in government and government-aided schools scored over 200 marks this year.

 R.Muthu Manikandan from Rajapalayam scored 233 marks in Neet this year. He attended a one-month long residential coaching at Virudhunagar for Tamil medium students. “The coaching provided by the school education department helped me to overcome my fear of the competitive exam. I understood the difference between the plus 2 board exam and Neet only after attending Neet coaching,” he said. He added that government should start coaching from the beginning of the academic year. “If I had prepared for the exam from the beginning of the year, I would have got more marks,” he said. The school topper from Annappa Raja School in Rajapalayam now hopes to join the engineering course as he has very little chance to get MBBS admission this year. He got 1,117 out of 1,200 marks in his plus 2 board exams.

E. Grashiga from Coronation Girls Higher Secondary School in Sivakasi got 263 marks in the common medical entrance test. Though she is one of the toppers among Tamil medium students from government, government-aided schools, she said that she has only a remote chance to get an MBBS seat this year. “The Neet coaching was helpful. I gained more confidence after attending the coaching. But I felt that the experts finished the topics too fast during the residential coaching,” she said. She suggested that government should open coaching centres in all cities. “The weekend coaching was held at Virudhunagar, 35 km from my hometown Sivakasi. My school also conducted special classes during the weekends. So I could not attend the coaching classes fully,” she said.

She could have easily got above 300 marks but for the negative marks. “I got 49 negative marks in Neet. I am determined to become a doctor and have decided to study this year for Neet,” she said.Teachers and experts who conducted Neet coaching for these students suggested to government to pick students based on tests. “State government should start Neet coaching from plus 1. For plus 2 students, they should start coaching from the beginning of the academic year and should conduct frequent tests. Based on the test scores alone, they should select students for Neet residential coaching,” one of them suggested.

“The current batch of students was not concentrated on class 11. This is also one of the major reasons for the poor performance. But from this year, students who passed the plus 1 board exam will have a basic understanding of plus 1 subjects and we can expect better results from next year,” another teacher said.

One headmaster said the Neet coaching should be conducted at the school level. “Neet aspirants should be subjected to daily tests to improve outcomes,” he said. In view of Neet, state government also revised the syllabus for plus 1 this year. Teachers believe that with the revised syllabus and well planned NEET coaching programme, government and government-aided school students can get more seats.