The Supreme Court’s decision to quash the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test has come as a big relief to students from the Andhra Pradesh.
The clarity over NEET will now help students to concentrate on preparations for the EAMCET, entrance exam conducted by the State for professional courses. College managements too were forced to change their coaching methods expecting that NEET will come into force from the next academic year.
However, they will now concentrate on the previously established and trusted preparation material. “The clarity has reduced pressure on students who were worried over competing at the national level,” said P. Madhusudhan Reddy, president of Government Junior Lecturers Association (GJLA).
It is not just competing with students from other States but students feel that the variation in syllabus in different Boards was proving costly for them. They felt that CBSE students would have gained in NEET as its syllabus was in tune with theirs.
There is a variation of about 30 per cent in Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) syllabus and CBSE syllabus and it provided an uneven platform for fair competition. Students in the Government junior colleges and rural areas would have been the most affected as corporate colleges in big cities and towns were at least putting some efforts to include CBSE lessons in their coaching part.
Moreover, the NEET paper was supposed to be in English and Hindi thus putting Telugu medium students at disadvantage.
K. Chandra Mohan, former president of Students’ Federation of India (SFI), who led several agitations on the issue, welcomed the decision and said it would help rural students and reduce pressure overall.
