Medical varsity revokes new rule on minimum pass percentage

General Council decides to revert to old system

Tamil Nadu MGR Medical University on Tuesday revoked its new rule on a minimum pass per cent of 50 in each component.

The General Council decided to go back on its decision to up the pass marks for MBBS students, and revert to the old system.

It had been decided that every MBBS student would have to score 50 per cent in each component of a subject to qualify for a pass. Each subject has five components, Paper 1, Paper 2, Viva, Internal Assessment and Practicals, and as per the new rule, the student had to score 50 per cent in each of these.

The rule was implemented for the first time for students who wrote the exam in August, revoking the earlier practice of demanding a minimum of 50 per cent marks aggregate in the theory papers and orals, and 50 per cent in practicals to pass.

Students claimed that it was in violation of the Medical Council of India's regulations being followed in every other State and private medical universities in Tamil Nadu. They also said that the move led to more failures. Meritorious students who had managed to enter the medical stream were being overburdened.

They made a representation to the government to revoke the new rule and restore uniform evaluation standards in the State.

It was in this context that the General Council met to resolve the issue.

It is learnt that the Council was advised by the government to consider the petition of the students favourably.