Several aspiring dental surgeons in India were left disheartened after the Supreme Court refused to postpone the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test - Master of Dental Surgery (NEET-MDS) 2024 examination.
Today, March 15, the Supreme Court of India refused to entertain the plea seeking postponement of the exam, noting that over 28,000 students are set to appear for the examination on Monday, March 18 and any decision taken by the court at this stage would affect them.
“The students are left in limbo for another one or two years due to this decision. They have pushed out of the system by giving an arbitrary extension to the internship cut-off date. We are all just victims of a horrible system. What are we supposed to do now, sit idly and wait for another year? We are not 18-year-olds, we are talking about 25-26 year old students,” said Dr Ayesha Nazrin, one of the aspirants who had advocated for the postponement.
The Union Government told the Supreme Court that it has extended the internship cut-off date for the NEET MDS exam from March 31, 2024 to June 30, 2024 and 568 additional students have registered as a result of the above decision.
It was also mentioned that the Centre has made efforts to bring back on rails the commencement of dental courses to the pre-COVID schedule.
“If the exam gets postponed, it would not affect anyone. The students who are already eligible will get a few more months of preparation. The Court does not understand the gravity of our situation. Even now, three days before the exam, the admit cards have not been released. How do we travel to the exam centre?” expressed Dr Rishab Chakraborty, another NEET-MDS aspirant.
“When NMC can extend the exam for NEET-PG till July without worrying about the academic calendar, why cannot the same be done for dental students? NEET-PG is conducted on a much larger scale with almost two lakh students,” he added further.
While speaking to EdexLive, the students also highlighted that the court did not give heed to most of the issues mentioned in the petition by the aspirants. These include insufficient time for preparation, insufficient or inconvenient exam centres, delay in the release of admit cards, and most importantly, the inability of more than 6,000 students to appear for the examination due to faulty internship cut-off dates.
“I would not be able to sit for the exam now that the decision has been made. In November, there will be an entrance test for AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences). Otherwise, the only option left for me is to sit and wait for one year. The students are very upset about the hearing but it is not in our hands anymore. Most of us are still in shock, the news is not sinking in,” shared Dr Nimisha Parasher, another aspiring dental surgeon.
The exam will be held on Monday, March 18, as scheduled by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) earlier. The NBEMS is expected to release the admit cards today, March 15.
