The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test would benefit students of the State Board, said former Vice Chancellor of Anna University M. Anandakrishnan.
If NEET becomes mandatory, then schools would not bypass Standard XI subjects. Also, the culture of selecting a few questions that students are encouraged to learn by rote would also end, Prof. Anandakrishnan said here on Wednesday at a press conference organised by Change India, to launch a book on NEET.
To a question on the argument that NEET was based on CBSE syllabus that encouraged the culture of coaching classes, he said the State Board’s syllabus was equally good.
“The problem lies in the teaching and learning process. We need to audit class XII question papers. The exam should be given as much care as other competitive exams. We need our children to understand Physics, Chemistry and Biology. It is true that students in remote and hilly regions may face difficulty but once a student enters class XI and XII there is not much difference as everyone must have subject knowledge,” he said.
‘Focus on marks’
Change India director A. Narayanan said schools in northern districts had already become coaching centres and focused on marks only.
“That the school education department deploys 8,000 flying squads for surveillance of class XII exams should ring alarm bells,” he said.
K. Shanmugavelayutham, managing trustee for Foundation for Rights of Young Child, said an analysis of the class XII results showed that the marking system was skewed.
Students either got centum or just-pass marks. This would not be possible in the normal marking method, he said.
According to S. Arulrhaj, chairperson of Commonwealth Medical Association Trust, NEET would benefit students as it would eliminate capitation fee culture and pave the way for uniformity in medical education.
