The mass failure of students in the final year MBBS exams at the Government Medical College, Kozhikode, has kicked up a row with experts demanding that the present examination system be overhauled.
According to sources, 34 of the 200 students in the 2013 batch failed in the final year exams, the results of which were declared by the Kerala University of Health Sciences a couple of days ago. Thirty of them failed in the practical exams in General Medicine. The college has an intake of 250 students, one of the highest among government medical colleges in Kerala.
The issue assumes significance as the number of failed students in other government medical colleges is below 10.
Even the recently set up Government Medical College, Manjeri, has a pass percentage of 98. Last year, 19 students could not clear the final-year exams at the Kozhikode medical college.
It is learnt that even the brightest students failed to clear the practical exams. They were not even given 45 marks which could have enabled a moderation of five marks and a pass, with 50 marks. Some others had scored just 50 marks, which means they cleared the exam only because of moderation. It has been alleged that some of the external examiners and a few internal examiners had posed irrelevant questions to the students which affected their morale and presence of mind.
A student who did not wish to be quoted said the medicos were supposed to go through a continuing evaluation (CE) process and internal tests in each semester, which were as tough as the university exams. Only those who clear these tests were allowed to appear for the final exams. How can those who perform well in CE and internal exams fail only in the final test, the student wondered.
‘Change exam pattern’
K.P. Aravindan, former Professor and Head of the Department of Pathology, Government Medical College, Kozhikode, told The Hindu on Monday that it was time to change the examination pattern. “Those who get admission to the medical college here are the highest rank holders in the State-level entrance test. It is unlikely that they lack skills,” he said. Dr. Aravindan said the university authorities should think of changing over to the objective structured clinical examination, which is a more hands-on and modern mechanism.
Meanwhile, sources in the college said that the Principal had called for a meeting of the parents-teachers association, teachers’ core committee, and students’ representatives on Wednesday to discuss the issue.
