JOIN USAmid confusion over NEET, students take Comed-K test
Even as the Supreme Court’s verdict on National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical and dental courses is awaited, the Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (Comed-K) conducted the Post Graduate Entrance Exam (PGET 2013) for medical and dental courses here on Sunday.
The PGET admission to medical and dental courses for the Comed-K member institutions in Karnataka was held at various test centres in the City.
Out of the 13,681 students who had applied, 12,321 appeared for the test. Nearly 5,000 students appeared for the Dental entrance exam.
According to Comed-K chief executive AS Srikanth, 63 candidates were not allowed to write the exam either because they arrived late or they did not carry valid photo ID proof.
The NEET for post graduate courses was held in December 2012 and the results are yet to be declared as several petitions by students against the NEET is pending in the apex court.
As the Supreme Court is yet to pronounce its verdict on the NEET, students are in a state of confusion. Surya, a student from Andhra Pradesh, who appeared for the PGET for the second time, felt that the NEET should be implemented to check corruption in seat selection.
“We all know that corruption is rampant as managements sell seats. Considering this, a national entrance exam with a national monitoring system of seats would reduce corruption,” he felt. However, if this is not implemented uniformly across all states, students from certain states will lose the benefits, he added.
Another candidate Rashmi, from West Bengal, echoed similar sentiments. She said the NEET would give students better opportunity without having to appear for multiple exams.
However, a section of the students found it beneficial to appear for more exams.
“What if it was a bad day for me in terms of performance and I am not able to give my best on that day? I will lose out the entire year. Multiple exams will give students a better chance of securing admission as everybody cannot perform in the same manner in every exam,” opined Smitha, a student from Kerala.
Medicos’ rally
Medical students took out rally from Town Hall to Banappa Park on Sunday in support of the NEET.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Dr Preetham, a post graduate medical seat aspirant, who was part of the rally, said the students favoured the NEET to check corruption in seat counselling.
“Seats are being sold indiscriminately by managements. A national exam will put a monitoring system in place,” he said.
If there is not the NEET, students who have to appear for multiple entrance exams of different states have to spend more than Rs 50,000 for just the application process itself, he added.