The sorry episode undermining the exam's credibility, crushing hopes of lakhs of students, signals the urgent need to hit a process reset. EPISODE #182
A topical issue currently and not only it is affecting the future of aspirants for a career in medical science but also the opposition political parties, fresh from an unexpectedly better showing in the last elections, have the Neet scam, as cannon fodder to heckle and attack the ruling NDA. This issue will be here for a long long time and it will be years before the ruling BJP may wrest itself free from the ensuing stigma of the scam. One thing is for sure that the public will realize that the amounts involved are too small for BJP to have been a party for monetary benefits; however the moral responsibility for being careless in a matter of monumental proportions lies on the shoulders of the ruling party. How the investigation and fact findings unravel will change the future perception of BJP as a political party with credibility. The solution as per my thoughts, is already mentioned somewhat in your article Anil. I feel that this examination should be a 2 step process. The 1st examination should reduce the number of aspirants to 4 times the number of seats available. In the 2nd round the final batch who will get admission should be declared. A reduced number of examinees will be better controlled and the examination will be conducted in a free and fair manner. Thank you for an interesting read. 😊
Thank you for your thoughts. Glad the newsletter resonated with you.
Agree with you. This is a big political test for the BJP. And they will find it hard to live it down. Sleeping on the wheel, especially with respect to such an important exam impacting millions of Indian youth, is a tough mistake to live down.
Interesting, Surendra too has suggested a two-step approach. Definitely interesting.
Finally, the time has come for a radical reset of the exam process with emphasis on transparency.
Well covered. Artificial scarcity has its own repercussions. Thousands of our kids are going to anywhere in the world for medical education, literally. Paying hefty sums too. They receive little or no training or knowledge at all. Whatever little they get is by Indian doctors teaching in these colleges.
Hardly 10% pass the Indian post foreign qualification test.
Why is GOI a mute spectator to this scam? Why cant we have a medical college attached to each large hospital?
Maybe you could cover this too soon? Its a crisis of sorts.
Thank you for your thoughts. Agree with you. This is a serious wake up call. The existing systems and plans worked in an old India. Today, aspirations and means to fulfil them are growing every day.
Your idea of a medical college attached to every institution is interesting. Not sure about its implementation, given the need to maintain standards. It is subject to misuse as we have seen with several private institutions.
And hopefully the government will get to the bottom of this ASAP. Not wait for the next general election.
Finally, it is indeed very disappointing to see these young students experience this. It is their first exposure to the system. I am sure all of them will never forget this sorry experience. Many will be scarred forever.
Thanks Anil for such an exhaustive and detailed report on NEET. But I would like to go beyond the issue of conduct of examination and get into aspects which we normally never consider. Let me give you my common sense thoughts on the topic. 1. It is the right of every Indian desirous of pursuing any educational / professional course to get admission into it, subject to some minimum criteria like say age, obtaining some minimum passing marks etc. If this is so, then we should have NEET which stipulates say, anyone who clears it with 75% marks will certainly get admission into one of the colleges somewhere. Now that your admission is secured in to the medial course, one may want to get into a desired college or institution, for which there can be another second level test which will be purely merit based. 2. Now, when we have this structure, it means Govt must increase number of medical colleges by a factor of probably 5 or 10 but that is within its capacity and is entirely desirable. 3. But having been given admission, the yearly exam will be set so tough that one gets 70% or more, one can not proceed to the next year. This is because we cannot compromise on quality of doctors in the country. So let almost everyone get in but ensure when they get out, they are well qualified doctors. 4. This means that we should now think of something like BSc and MSC medicine courses wherein those who cannot clear beyond 3 or 5 years of tough studies can still get degrees and move out into related areas of health sector. Once MSC is done, one goes into 1 or 2 years of MBBS finally. 5. So we do not stop any aspiring poor, backward, rural student from getting into medical degree college just because he cannot clear the entrance which is tough due to limited number of seats available. 6. With this structure, we do not need any reservation as well!! Anyone who get above 70% in entrance is entitled to be admitted!! 6. A country aspiring to be within top 2 or 3 countries in the world must think out of box and find solutions, Of course, the issues of conduct of exam still remain- as given our conditions, we have to ensure there is no mass copying or paper leakage even for entrance to clear 70% benchmark!! 7. India needs a lot more doctors anyway. Lakhs of students are studying abroad in Russia, Central Asia, China, Korea etc. We should stop that outgo. And the world needs many more doctors too. So why we not we think out of box and solve the problem? 8. On the recent NEET fiasco, we must accept that whenever there is shortage, such corrupt practices will happen, whatever controls are there. Human failures cannot be prevented!! Why blame poor NTA!!!
Thank you so much for the kind appreciation and your detailed response. The suggestion for a two-step approach sounds good. However, I believe this is the time to move away from the pen-paper model and opt for an online testing procedure. It will dramatically lower the prospects of a routine exam leak--though it can be vulnerable to hacking. It is something like the DBT. Its introduction eliminated the middleman and saved Rs2.75 lakh crore to the exchequer.
Hi Anil, a great piece! Thank you!
Dear Shashwathi,
Thank you so much for your kind words of appreciation.
Best
Anil
A topical issue currently and not only it is affecting the future of aspirants for a career in medical science but also the opposition political parties, fresh from an unexpectedly better showing in the last elections, have the Neet scam, as cannon fodder to heckle and attack the ruling NDA. This issue will be here for a long long time and it will be years before the ruling BJP may wrest itself free from the ensuing stigma of the scam. One thing is for sure that the public will realize that the amounts involved are too small for BJP to have been a party for monetary benefits; however the moral responsibility for being careless in a matter of monumental proportions lies on the shoulders of the ruling party. How the investigation and fact findings unravel will change the future perception of BJP as a political party with credibility. The solution as per my thoughts, is already mentioned somewhat in your article Anil. I feel that this examination should be a 2 step process. The 1st examination should reduce the number of aspirants to 4 times the number of seats available. In the 2nd round the final batch who will get admission should be declared. A reduced number of examinees will be better controlled and the examination will be conducted in a free and fair manner. Thank you for an interesting read. 😊
Dear Gautam,
Thank you for your thoughts. Glad the newsletter resonated with you.
Agree with you. This is a big political test for the BJP. And they will find it hard to live it down. Sleeping on the wheel, especially with respect to such an important exam impacting millions of Indian youth, is a tough mistake to live down.
Interesting, Surendra too has suggested a two-step approach. Definitely interesting.
Finally, the time has come for a radical reset of the exam process with emphasis on transparency.
Look forward to your continued participation.
Best
Anil
Well covered. Artificial scarcity has its own repercussions. Thousands of our kids are going to anywhere in the world for medical education, literally. Paying hefty sums too. They receive little or no training or knowledge at all. Whatever little they get is by Indian doctors teaching in these colleges.
Hardly 10% pass the Indian post foreign qualification test.
Why is GOI a mute spectator to this scam? Why cant we have a medical college attached to each large hospital?
Maybe you could cover this too soon? Its a crisis of sorts.
Dear Sangeeta,
Thank you for your thoughts. Agree with you. This is a serious wake up call. The existing systems and plans worked in an old India. Today, aspirations and means to fulfil them are growing every day.
Your idea of a medical college attached to every institution is interesting. Not sure about its implementation, given the need to maintain standards. It is subject to misuse as we have seen with several private institutions.
And hopefully the government will get to the bottom of this ASAP. Not wait for the next general election.
Finally, it is indeed very disappointing to see these young students experience this. It is their first exposure to the system. I am sure all of them will never forget this sorry experience. Many will be scarred forever.
Tragic. Because they are India's future.
Look forward to your continued particpation.
Best
Anil
Thanks Anil for such an exhaustive and detailed report on NEET. But I would like to go beyond the issue of conduct of examination and get into aspects which we normally never consider. Let me give you my common sense thoughts on the topic. 1. It is the right of every Indian desirous of pursuing any educational / professional course to get admission into it, subject to some minimum criteria like say age, obtaining some minimum passing marks etc. If this is so, then we should have NEET which stipulates say, anyone who clears it with 75% marks will certainly get admission into one of the colleges somewhere. Now that your admission is secured in to the medial course, one may want to get into a desired college or institution, for which there can be another second level test which will be purely merit based. 2. Now, when we have this structure, it means Govt must increase number of medical colleges by a factor of probably 5 or 10 but that is within its capacity and is entirely desirable. 3. But having been given admission, the yearly exam will be set so tough that one gets 70% or more, one can not proceed to the next year. This is because we cannot compromise on quality of doctors in the country. So let almost everyone get in but ensure when they get out, they are well qualified doctors. 4. This means that we should now think of something like BSc and MSC medicine courses wherein those who cannot clear beyond 3 or 5 years of tough studies can still get degrees and move out into related areas of health sector. Once MSC is done, one goes into 1 or 2 years of MBBS finally. 5. So we do not stop any aspiring poor, backward, rural student from getting into medical degree college just because he cannot clear the entrance which is tough due to limited number of seats available. 6. With this structure, we do not need any reservation as well!! Anyone who get above 70% in entrance is entitled to be admitted!! 6. A country aspiring to be within top 2 or 3 countries in the world must think out of box and find solutions, Of course, the issues of conduct of exam still remain- as given our conditions, we have to ensure there is no mass copying or paper leakage even for entrance to clear 70% benchmark!! 7. India needs a lot more doctors anyway. Lakhs of students are studying abroad in Russia, Central Asia, China, Korea etc. We should stop that outgo. And the world needs many more doctors too. So why we not we think out of box and solve the problem? 8. On the recent NEET fiasco, we must accept that whenever there is shortage, such corrupt practices will happen, whatever controls are there. Human failures cannot be prevented!! Why blame poor NTA!!!
Dear Surendra,
Thank you so much for the kind appreciation and your detailed response. The suggestion for a two-step approach sounds good. However, I believe this is the time to move away from the pen-paper model and opt for an online testing procedure. It will dramatically lower the prospects of a routine exam leak--though it can be vulnerable to hacking. It is something like the DBT. Its introduction eliminated the middleman and saved Rs2.75 lakh crore to the exchequer.
Look forward to your continued participation.
Best
Anil
Very well researched and written Anil. The system is so messed up. Keep sharing your insights. Best
Thank you so much Kapil.
Best
Anil