NEET | CBSE-based exam pattern, steep coaching fees crush rural dreams

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, or NEET, decides the dreams of aspiring medical students in India. Since 2017, when it was made mandatory for medical admissions, the NEET exam, the method in which it is conducted, its syllabus, and the question paper pattern have come under criticism.

While Tamil Nadu has consistently opposed the exam for the past seven years, this year, it has become a national issue, thanks to numerous flaws in the way it was conducted, and the results announced. 

Over 20 lakh students in India take the NEET every year. The successful ones will form the backbone of the future healthcare ecosystem of the country. It's about time the system is cleaned up.

The Federal is publishing a multi-part series on the irregularities in the exam, the plight of students, and the growing protests against the system. 

Chathriyan Muthamilselvan, 23, couldn't afford to pay ₹1 lakh for NEET coaching classes. A labourer's son from Kallathur village in Tamil Nadu’s Ariyalur district, he prepared for the medical test on his own and appeared for the exam five times, scoring 280 marks in his latest attempt.

Now, he has given up his dream of becoming a doctor. 

"I had no money. I scored 485/500 in Class 10 and 1,019/1,200 in Class 12. When I took NEET for the first time, I had no clue about the exam pattern. There was no guidance. I bought CBSE books after the first attempt. After the fifth attempt, I couldn’t spend any more time on preparation because my younger sister had passed her Class 12. I decided to take up a job to help my family," said Chathriyan, now a contract worker at the Kallathur post office.

Dreams dashed

"I completed my school exam with the Tamil Nadu government syllabus. How will it be possible for me to take an exam based on an entirely different syllabus?" asked Chathriyan.

His family couldn’t afford the ₹15 lakh fees for a dental degree course at a private institution in Chennai.

Like Chathriyan, lakhs of underprivileged students who can’t afford private coaching or the fees for a private institution have abandoned their dreams of becoming doctors. For Chathriyan, the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the inherent inequalities in the exam system crushed his chances to secure a seat in a medical college.

Across India, around 20 lakh students appear for the NEET-UG exam every year. Though a student can write the exam any number of times, many like Chathriyan are forced to discontinue after a couple of attempts to start earning a living.

A 'biased' pattern'

Even as the NTA has come under fire for alleged irregularities in the NEET exam results this year, educationists argue that the exam pattern is intrinsically biased against rural students, and is therefore unconstitutional.

This year, thousands of students who appeared for the NEET-UG exam on March 5 are protesting. Some of the candidates have filed petitions before the court, complaining of alleged paper leak, anomolies in questions and arbitrary award of grace marks in the exam.

The last point has since been addressed, with the Centre informing the Supreme Court that it will retract the grace marks awarded to over 1,500 students, who can now give a retest. 

'No moral ground'

S Manirathinam, brother of NEET student Anitha, who killed herself in 2017 after failing to secure a medical seat despite scoring well in the Class 12 exam, slammed the NTA. He said the organisation has no moral ground to test students when the agency itself fails in its standards.

"My sister Anitha was very passionate from childhood about becoming a doctor. She was eager to serve our village. But when the NEET exam became a big hurdle, it affected her," Manirathinam, who runs a tuition centre for job entrance exams such as UPSC and TNPSC.

"It actually kills the passion of the youth from rural areas. When we don’t have a uniform education board across India, how can the NTA conduct a test based on one syllabus which one section of students cannot afford to study?" Manirathinam asked when The Federal contacted him.

Anger against NTA

Referring to the alleged irregularities in this year's NEET, he said: "Complaints are pouring in from many states about question paper leak, proxy persons appearing in exams, and tampered answer sheets. The CBI has to conduct an inquiry into the irregularities. I lost my sister to an exam conducted by an unfit agency," he said.

Another student, Harsh Patel from Noida, took part in a protest in New Delhi against the NEET exam. He scored 644/700 marks, which more or less rules out admission in government-owned colleges.

His family cannot afford private medical college fees, as the government-quota seats are dominated by students who secured full marks.

"I'm upset with the irregularities in the exam. I was on a ventilator for four months. In the last six months, I underwent two operations. I think the NTA is lying through its teeth. Every student should file a public interest litigation to fight the injustice in this exam. It’s a question of everyone’s future," he said.

Physical constraints

In a chat with The Federal, educationist D Nedunchezhiyan said the NTA's method of conducting the NEET is unacceptable. For example, he pointed out, students are forced to appear at the centre three hours prior to the examination. Many poor students who cannot afford to buy food go hungry during the exam, he said.

"Our students are tested like soldiers standing at the Wagah Border. They undergo severe physical and mental stress. When the exam starts at 2 pm, why are students asked to report at 11 am?" he asked.

Syllabus concerns

Nedunchezhiyan further pointed out that rural students who study in government-run schools follow the state board syllabus by default. When they are asked to appear for an exam based on CBSE syllabus, it is discriminatory.

"Students who study in different state board schools are forced to compete with students from the CBSE stream. The students from state board schools lack exposure when it comes to the NEET pattern. Affordability and accessibility issues make the exam tougher for rural children,’’ he observed.

He said the NTA had failed to introspect and restructure the exam pattern. "The present testing pattern favours rich students who can pay for private coaching and attempt the examination several times. It does not provide equal opportunity to students from rural areas. The NTA doesn’t even publish data on the social mix of students who cleared the examination while promoting itself as an unbiased agency," he said.

Prevailing inequality

Educationist Prince Gajendra Babu told The Federal inequality prevails in the NEET exam method.

"Our Constitution says everyone should be given equal opportunities. In the NEET exam, poor students who couldn’t afford to pay for coaching class have to take the test along with students from urban areas trained in coaching class. This is inequality," he said.

"When equal opportunities are not provided or created, how can we expect students from various boards to take the same exam and secure a prestigious medical seat?" he asked.

He further objected to the negative marking system. ‘’Nowhere in the world does a 17-year-old child have to face a tough test with a negative marking system. When the student has proved his cognitive skills in class 10 and class 12 exams conducted by recognised state boards, why do they have to prove their skills again in the NEET exam? 

Long-term impact

Justice AK Rajan, the former High Court judge who headed the 2021 High Level Committee constituted by the Tamil Nadu government to study the impact of NEET on socially backward students, said the exam will affect the health system of the country in the long run.

NEET has undermined the diverse societal representation in MBBS and higher medical studies and favoured the affluent sections of society, he observed. The committee recommended that the government take immediate steps to eliminate NEET from the admission process.

Speaking to The Federal earlier this month, Justice Rajan said: "This would take us to the pre-Independence era. Many rural students who complete medical education, would set up their clinics or work in government clinics in their villages. But when getting into medical education becomes a costly affair, this would not allow doctors to get back to their roots."

Lower representation

He pointed out that this would not just impact aspiring students in rural areas, but also rural healthcare in the longer term.

"When the exam pattern itself would not allow many rural students to get into the medical stream, we will have doctors from urban and upper classes and affluent families who would not be interested to serve in the rural areas," he told The Federal.

He said that after NEET was introduced in the 2017-18 academic year, very few students from rural areas – especially those studying in the Tamil medium, those from families with lower incomes, and those from Tamil Nadu state board schools – secured admission in medical colleges in the state.

"While English-medium students secured more seats even in the pre-NEET period, their share rose significantly after NEET was introduced. And as a result, number of Tamil-medium students pursuing medical education became negligible,’’ he said.