Page 21 - EducationWorld October 2020

sub-quota in medical admission for medical colleges have 2,347 seats. Therefore, I welcome the govern-
state government school students Therefore, under the new quota Bill, ment’s reservation mandate,” says
who clear NEET, but score below the 200 seats will be available for state Dr. Somasundaram.
prescribed cut-off marks. government school-leavers. Howev- Yet it’s pertinent to note that a
Under the Bill, the 7.5 percent er, private school students who may special quota has had to be legis-
TNBSE affiliated school students have higher NEET scores will have lated for state government students
with highest NEET rank/score are to stand down. But if this ‘horizontal to facilitate their entry into medical
eligible for admission into under- reservation’ of 7.5 percent is aug- colleges because of poor learning
graduate programmes in allopathy, mented with an increase in the num- outcomes in TNBSE affiliated institu-
medicine, dentistry, Indian medicine ber of colleges, private school-leavers tions. In turn this is the outcome
and homeopathy colleges within the wouldn’t be excluded,” explains R. of continuous interference with the
state under the new special quota. Karthikeyan, a second year MBBS curriculums, teachers recruitment
Under NEET’s domicile rule, 85 student at Chennai’s Tagore Medical and politicisation of government
percent seats in medical colleges in College. schools, of which all political parties
every state are reserved for students Chennai-based educationist Dr. are guilty.
resident within all 29 states and S. Somasundaram, an alumnus of Moreover for the public it is — or
seven Union territories, with 15 Madurai Kamaraj, Bhoj and Periyar should be — a chilling consideration
percent to be allotted (to those who universities, also welcomes the state that over 69 percent of students in
clear NEET) at the discretion of the government’s new quota order. “Stu- Tamil Nadu’s merely 50 medical col-
institutional management. dents in government schools tend to leges are admitted on considerations
“This is an overdue initiative of be from EWS (economically weaker other than merit. While the interests
the AIADMK government. The total section) households. They are at a of equity and social justice are being
number of seats in Tamil Nadu’s disadvantage when writing NEET served by the runaway affirmative
government medical colleges are and other public/national university action on which there is evidently all-
3,300 per year, of which 2,785 are entrance exams as they are not able party consensus, public health and
for domiciled students. In addi- to pay for coaching like most class XI safety is compromised.
tion, government-aided and private and XII students of private schools. Shivani Chaturvedi (Chennai)

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