NEET will kill public health system: Cong MP

Chennai: Pointing out that rapid commercialisation of medical education after introduction of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), Congress MP S Sasikanth Senthil on Monday said the medical entrance test will destroy public health system.
He said the country has woken from a slumber due to numerous frauds unearthed in the NEET exam. "About 76% of students who qualified to get admission in good institutions are three-time repeaters.Most children cannot afford to spend money and time to prepare for this exam," he said while speaking at a seminar in Chennai on "NEET – An Academic Atrocity" organised by All India Save Education Committee and Muthal Mozhi, an organisation of Annamalai University Engineers (Alumni).
"In a matter of five or six years, our children will not be thinking about medicine. This entrance exam is the biggest atrocity on our children," Sasikanth Senthil said. He also questioned the idea of merit, saying it is a matter of chance. "I think diversity is good merit. People from different places and social strata sitting in the same class studying medicine and engineering is merit."
L Jawahar Nesan, a member of the high-level committee to study the impact of NEET in medical admissions in Tamil Nadu, said NEET is neither academically valid nor tests the academic achievement of children. "It also promotes coaching instead of learning. It is against socially, economically poor students as it prevents a majority of students from getting medical education," he said.
He argued that public health and hospitals are under the state govt and manning these facilities is also the responsibility of the state. "Medical education including admissions and eligibility criteria should be vested with the state govt," he said.
Highlighting the flaws of the NEET exam, Ashok Vardhan Shetty, former vice-chancellor of Indian Maritime University, said exams such as NEET and JEE are creating a mental health crisis in India. "Students are struggling to cope, and the govt should prioritise the mental health of students. It should ban profiteering business of coaching institutes," he said. He said switching to online exams is not safe as scamsters will find novel ways to cheat the exams.
"The NEET bill passed by Tamil Nadu govt is still in circulation and is yet to get the assent of the President," DMK MLA N Ezhilan said. He said the size of the NEET coaching industry is 55,000 crore.
"In 2033, it will expand to 1.31 lakh crore. The growth rate of this business is 15%. It's 15 times more than the budget allocated to all central govt institutions. We are fighting for social justice, federalism and to protect the public health system," Ezhilan said.
The seminar also passed resolutions to accord the President's assent for Tamil Nadu's NEET exemption bill and sought to withdraw NEET exam across the country.