The coronavirus pandemic already had a devastating impact on the academic calendar. Further to that, all competitive examinations like NEET, JEE etc. were delayed – in turn affecting the admissions to undergraduate courses.
NEET is one of the most popular medical exams in India as it is a gateway to the medical courses in the top government/ private medical colleges of the country.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 85-90 percent of 15.97 lakh candidates appeared for NEET 2020 exam. NEET PG is conducted every year for 10,821 Master of Surgery (MS), 19,953 Doctor of Medicine (MD) and 1,979 PG Diploma seats at 6,102 institutions. NEET MDS is conducted for admission to 6,501 seats – 50 per cent all India quota (AIQ) and 50 per cent state quota – in participating institutions. The next step after the release of the answer key and the declaration of results is the admission process. NEET exams will be conducted twice amid the pandemic as the dates are getting delayed keeping in mind the concern of the students.
On this Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank recently said, “An announcement on the medical entrance exam date could be made in the next 10-15 days.”
Commenting on this Mr. Gaurav Tyagi, Founder-Career Xpert said, ”The consequences of postponing the NEET dates can have serious repercussions on the admission process as well as careers of many students. With NEET being the only way to MBBS and BDS courses in India, cancelling or postponing an examination with such large participating population will have a huge impact. Already, the exams are delayed by 11 months which is having devasting impact on overall process.
