'Exempt Tamil Nadu from medical entrance exams: Jayalalithaa

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa urged the central government to take necessary measures ensuring that the state continues with the existing system of admission to medical and dental colleges.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, text of which was released to the media here on Wednesay, she thanked him for promulgation of the ordinance providing for exemption from the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for the 2016-17 academic year.

She said the Ordinance would temporarily address the ssue for the current year.

"As I have pointed out to you in my earlier letters, the government of Tamil Nadu has taken a number of steps, starting from 2005, towards systematising the admission process to medical colleges, and after careful consideration, later abolished entrance examinations for professional undergraduate courses in the State, by enacting the Tamil Nadu Admission in Professional Educational Institutions Act, 2006," she said.

Jayalalithaa said the state government took these steps to protect the interests of students from the weaker sections and rural areas to ensure a level playing field.

She said students from rural and poorer socio-economic backgrounds will be unable to compete with urban elite students in such common entrance examinations, which are designed to favour the urban elite.

"For admission to postgraduate courses, the government of Tamil Nadu gives preference to those who have served in rural areas, with special weightage for those working in hilly and tribal areas," she said.

"The introduction of NEET would nullify the implementation of these policy initiatives and socio-economic objectives of the State, as the regulations for a National Test may not have such enabling provisions," Jayalalithaa said.

According to her, the national test is out of tune with the prevailing socio-economic milieu and administrative requirements of Tamil Nadu.

--IANS

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