Chennai: Reaffirming the demand for scrapping National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) in Tamilnadu, DMK president M K Stalin stated the national-level medical test was destroying students’ dreams of medical education and that it was creating inequality after 70 years of independence.
Three girls in the State ended their lives by committing suicide after failing to clear the test , which has led to an outrage across the state. Pointing to the the death of S Anitha of Ariyalur in 2017, Stalin said, NEET results caused severe mental stress among students and their parents. It has become a weapon that is destroying social justice.
Although this year, there has been an increase in the number of medical aspirants clearing NEET this time, there was no satisfactory response on how many of them will get seats in government medical colleges, pointed out the DMK chief.
He further claimed more candidates from the forward class passed the exam when compared to those from others, and more students from the CBSE had passed compared to their counterparts from state board.
He alleged that students from rural areas, poor and oppressed families study in government colleges and their medical dreams have been shattered by NEET, leading to suicides. Even some developed countries had done away with certain entrance tests after it was discovered that students from poorer sections could not enter major universities due to such tests, he claimed.
In 2007, the DMK government did away with entrance tests for professional courses and it benefited large number of students, and demanded that Education be moved to the state list. The DMK will continue to express support for this issue, including in Parliament, said Stalin.
Centre’s undue haste in implementing the 10 per cent quota for Economically Weaker Sections would increase social inequality and therefore, it is the duty of the government to take legal steps to scrap NEET, he stated.