Experts suggest that filling up vacancies of postgraduate teachers in government schools and increasing the horizontal reservation from 7.5% to 50% would increase the number of aspirants from government schools joining medical colleges in Tamil Nadu, stated a report in The New Indian Express.
On request of anonymity, a teacher said that initially, the Tamil Nadu government gave free coaching classes for NEET aspirants from government and government-aided schools during the weekends. After the COVID outbreak, it was stopped. Now, the students are getting training after the Class XII Board examination concludes.
"Few district Collectors and Chief Educational Officers sent the aspirants of government schools to private coaching centres by getting sponsorship from others. It may lead to an increase in the number of aspirants from government schools in the district," experts said.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Tamil Nadu Post Graduate Teachers Association former State President KPO Suresh said that recent NEET results indicate that those who studied the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE) curriculm are able to get good marks.
This dual education policy must be removed. In this situation, these students can't be compared to government school students, he said. He urged the Tamil Nadu government to increase the reservation quota from 7.5% to 50% in order to increase the number of students joining medical courses from government schools.
State Platform for Common School System - Tamil Nadu (SPCSS TN) General Secretary, PB Prince Gajendra Babu, said there are unfilled vacancies for posts like PG teachers, lab technicians and lab assistants in government schools in the state.
"While framing the syllabus, the time required for each subject, practicals and so on has also been framed based on the students listening capacity. It is essential to follow this. The government needs to issue a white paper on government school infrastructure and PG teachers working in government schools. It must be filled. Those who scored high marks in NEET said they studied over 15 hours daily. It is against children's welfare. Those who received 139 marks in NEET can join private medical colleges by spending lakhs of money. But, at the same time, though the aspirants from government schools are eligible to join medical colleges, the number of seats available to them is limited," he pointed out.
