There seems to be no escape from the stranglehold of coaching institutes as all top 10 candidates on the MBBS rank list of students selected under 7.5% quota for Tamil Nadu government schools students were the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) repeaters.
Despite acute poverty, several students had to spend lakhs for private NEET coaching. While some students were able to get help from philanthropists and charitable organisations, others like S Pachiyappan, who secured second rank and got MBBS seats in the prestigious Madras Medical College, had to take loans from moneylenders to pay for their NEET coaching. Pachaippan's father is a daily-wage labourer engaged in road work in Bengaluru.
The Directorate of Medical Education and Research conducted counselling for government students, special category candidates such as wards of sports players and ex-servicemen, and persons with disability at the Kalaignar Centenary Super Speciality Hospital in King Institute, Guindy, on Thursday, July 27.
Pachiyappan of Dharmapuri district completed his Class XII in 2022 and got 168 marks in NEET-UG which was not enough for him to get a medical seat. So, with the help of his maternal uncle M Krishnan, he joined a private coaching centre. This year he scored 565 marks in NEET.
"His father is a labourer and his mother too is not in a position to help him. So, his maternal grandparents, who are farmers, and I borrowed money from a moneylender for interest and gave him NEET coaching. We spent Rs 1.25 lakh. We are happy he secured a seat this year," Krishnan said.
Krishnan said his nephew’s school offered NEET coaching but his studies were affected due to COVID-19. Pachiyappan could not afford a smartphone either and he got low marks that year, Krishnan said.
Several stories emerge
For M Annapoorani of Ariyalur, who scored 533 and got seventh rank, it was the son of the former president of her school’s Parents-Teachers Association who supported her coaching from abroad. Annapoorani got an MBBS seat in Madras Medical College. She had to spend Rs 2 lakh for private NEET coaching.
C Simbu, who secured 65th rank with a score of 444 and secured a seat in Government Omandurar Medical College, said his parents had to take a loan from a moneylender for his Rs 1.20 lakh coaching expense.
Several students said their studies got affected due to COVID-19 and the government online classes were not helpful. "They rushed through the syllabus in a month and we couldn't follow it," a student said.
According to selection committee data, of the 2,993 government school students who were eligible under the 7.5% quota, 2,363 (79%) were NEET repeaters and only 630 had cleared NEET in their first attempt.
Health Minister Ma Subramanian handed over the allotment letters to the students. Health Secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi and officials took part in the event.
