CHENNAI: Of 12,997 students from government schools who appeared for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) this year in Tamil Nadu, 3,982 qualified to join MBBS. Among the districts, Salem has the highest number with 519 of 2,007 students having qualified.
Though the pass percentage increased by 4% compared to last year, teachers said many students from government schools have got less marks in NEET due to lack of proper coaching.
In Chennai district, 64 of 296 students have qualified this year. However, the topper of the current batch managed just 268 marks out of 720 in NEET.
Students who qualify are eligible to join MBBS, BDS courses. However, to get the seats they must get high marks in NEET due to tough competition. For example, an OC category student with 346 marks got government college medical seat last year under 7.5% special reservation for government school students.
B Kaviya from Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Ashok Nagar scored 268 marks with just one month of coaching. Now, she plans to drop a year to prepare for NEET.
“My teachers gave us study material to prepare for the exam. Biology questions were easy. If I had more time, I would have scored higher marks. I am not sure whether I would get a seat under the 7.5% quota for government school students. I want to give it another shot,” she said.
Another student, Tharunitha from Jaigopal Garodia Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Virugambakkam, also felt that the preparation time was not enough. She scored 173 marks in NEET. “The exam was moderately difficult. I felt I could have scored more if I prepared for a year,” she said.
Several educational experts are asking to start the NEET coaching early to enable more students to get high scores.
“Teachers and students put their effort during the crash course. However, one month was not enough to prepare students for NEET,” said R Soundarapandian, a biology subject expert.
Many government schools in the city are now planning to start NEET coaching in June and they plan to give coaching on Saturdays and Sundays. Some schools also said they also plan to hire experts to train students.
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