Two Articles “Neat Solution for NEET’ by Rema Nagarajan in TOI and “Standardized test and the pathology of the education industry” by Avunit Pathak in The Tribune is very important and timely amidst the students’ anguish, uproar along with ever increasing political protest against the functioning of the NTA. Rightly expressed that seems to be missing is the courage to question the very rationale of such tests and reflect on the damage that the simultaneous growth of the coaching industry has caused to the mental/aesthetic/cultural development of the young mind and most relevantly asked, Is there any alternative, particularly when lakhs of students want to become doctors/engineers/IAS officers/university teachers? As health and human rights activist and passion for medical education, I strongly feel that there is a viable alternative which will definitely promote the class room teaching and decrease dependence on coaching culture. I think policy should be changed to base the admissions to State government colleges on merit of +12 State board exams with 15% of all India quota and all India NEET exam for admissions to private medical colleges because private medical colleges can’t be trusted to hold their own exams. My feeling is that if NMC can allow candidate with zero in some subjects and reduce the cut off to zero percentile enabling rich students with poor ranks to get admission, surely NMC can give opportunity to poor as well as rural students on merit of affordable class room teaching of State education boards for admission to State government colleges. Government should consider such suggestions for betterment of admissions to medical colleges.
Prof Dr. Vitull K. Gupta, Bathinda.