Tuesday 8 November 2011

Andhra Pradesh govt to move SC on NEET

HYDERABAD: The state government on Tuesday decided to file a special leave petition in theSupreme Court on Wednesday seeking one-year exemption for the students from Andhra Pradesh taking the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical admissions. 

The proposed NEET is to be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in April-May 2012 under the auspices of the Medical Council of India, and will be held in only English and Hindi medium. 

Once the Union health ministry made it clear a few weeks ago that all states have to do away with their respective entrance examinations for medical seats and appear for the common exam to be held for admissions across the country, the state government realized that the intermediate students from the state will be at a disadvantage if they take the NEET on the issue of language and syllabus. 

Of the about 65,000-odd students who appear for the medical component of the Eamcet exam every year, almost 25,000 of them appear for the exam in Telugu. Forced all of a sudden to appear in a national test which has only English or Hindi as the medium of instruction, these students will be severely handicapped. 

With regard to the syllabus, in view of the difference in the syllabus between the CBSE and Board of Intermediate Education, students from the state will have to study about 30% more in botany and zoology if they have to remain competitive in the NEET, while the difference in the syllabus between the two is only about 5 to 10% when it comes to physics and chemistry. 

Keeping these factors in mind, the state wrote to the Union health ministry about four days ago and sought exemption for students from AP to appear for the NEET at least for two years. The idea is that in the meantime, the intermediate syllabus too can be revised and those appearing for Eamcet in Telugu can also get time to brush up their English in order to remain competitive while appearing for the all-India medical test. 

However, the Union health ministry had declined the request on the grounds that the Supreme Court is apprised of the matter and that no state can be given exemption from the NEET. 

However, it turns out that Tamil Nadu has already secured a permanent exemption for the students from that state appearing for the NEET. State government sources told TOI that AP lost out in securing such an exemption due to a communication gap. 

The Union health ministry had sent a circular to the health wings of all the states about the implementation of such an all-India exam some time back.

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