NRI students cry foul over NEET
Several NRI students are crying foul over the NEET exam, calling it discriminatory, and have sought gradual implementation of the exam over two years.
The new test requirement will hinder NRI students’ application to medical and dental colleges in India as there are no test centres in the US, Europe and other countries with a large NRI population, the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) said in a media release.
Global Indian Diaspora Foundation, Federation of Kerala Association of North America (FOKANA) and Federation of Malayalee Association of America (FOMA) have also joined hands and written to the central and state authorities in this regard.
The groups have requested the authorities to maintain their status quo on admission of NRI students for two years. Otherwise, informed GOPIO, most NRI students would not be able to appear for the examination scheduled for May 5.
About 2,000 NRI students apply to MBBS and BDS admissions in India every year.
For the last 20 years, Indian medical colleges have been giving admission to NRI students based on NRI quota on the basis of equivalent certificate from the education section of the Indian missions and the Association of Indian Universities, states GOPIO in the release.
However, the MCI has implemented a centralised C (NEET) for MBBS and BDS admission in India from this year. The announcement of the new national entrance test was made in January 2013, leaving NRI students vulnerable as there will not enough time to prepare for the tests as no clear examination guidelines are available yet, GOPIO said.
NRI students from the US, South America, Canada, Australia, Africa and Europe also have difficulty in taking the test unlike students in the Middle East who have examination centres available in Saudi Arabia and Dubai, it said.
