Of the 17,630 students from government and government-aided schools in the State who took the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, 2,557 have cleared it.
As many as 59,785 students from schools in Tamil Nadu cleared the exam, of which students from government and aided schools accounted for 4.27%.
Data consolidated by the School Education Department indicate that only two students from government-aided English medium schools in the State scored more than 400 marks. A total of 28 students from both government and aided schools scored in the 300-400 mark range.
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The number of students from government and aided institutions who took the eligibility test is significantly higher this year compared to last year, when only about 9,000 students appeared.
K.A. Sengottaiyan, Minister for School Education, had announced last year that 1,337 students from these institutions cleared the exam. This year, it has nearly doubled. The School Education department conducted coaching classes through the academic year. A residential crash course, as part of the ‘Thoduvanam’ programme, was offered to 2,579 students across the State in 14 institutions a month. Of these, 642 students have qualified. “Based on the feedback we received, training this year could have been much more effective. The weekend coaching classes could have been held earlier. Also, several rural students were hesitant to go for residential coaching,” said S.Arumainathan, State President of the Tamil Nadu Students Parents Welfare Association. “The students must be encouraged from Class 11 to attend coaching regularly. At the same time, we hope that schools and teachers do not project NEET and medicine as the only option available to students and create undue pressure on them,” he said.