Chennai: Students applying for MBBS or BDS this year, are relieved as the Central cabinet finally decided to postpone NEET by a year, following protests by States. However, educationists say a buffer period of one year would prove to be less.
“Postponing Neet to next year is a temporary solution and it is important that a permanent remedy is found soon. The decision is welcome at this juncture, but not in the long run,” said N. Mani, Professor, Economics Department, Erode Arts and Science College, Erode.
M.G. Nivedita, who had completed phase I of the exam, said she will not wait until next year to write Neet, but will apply for MBBS this year through counselling.
K.R.Vijay of Thoothukudi said “I have written phase I. However, now that Neet has been postponed to next year, I realised it would be difficult for me to apply for an MBBS seat, as my cut-off is low. I am therefore shifting to engineering course”.
Government officials, on the other hand, said they are awaiting the Central order before making any decision. Babu, a government school teacher from Gudiyattam in Vellore district, welcomed the Centre’s decision. His daughter stands a good chance of getting a medical seat with 197.25 cut-off marks.“We are not following a common syllabus throughout the country. If such a common medical test is held, our State students will suffer,” he said.
Swathi from Coimbatore has 198.25 cut-off marks. She toiled hard for the last two years to secure a good cut-off in the Plus Two exam. She was preparing from home for the medical test. She was relieved that the government had deferred Neet. “We are not prepared for any entrance exam. The syllabus also is different for the entrance test. So, I am not confident whether I will get an MBBS seat in the exam,” she said. Her father G.Gajendran who works in a polytechnic said the main issue was lack of time for students to prepare for the entrance test.
