The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on June 8 announced that the National Exit Test (NExT), a national-level exit exam for undergraduate medical students, will be held starting from 2024. Following the announcement, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday, June 13, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterating his opposition to NExT. Stalin said that conducting the test was neither in the best interest of the students nor that of the Tamil Nadu government which funds several state-run medical colleges.
In the letter, CM Stalin alleged that the introduction of NExT is “an attempt to dilute the role of state governments and universities in the health sector and to centralise powers with the Union government.” He also alleged that NExT — which is set to replace the National Eligibility Entrance Test (Postgraduate) (NEET PG) and act as a common entrance exam for post-graduation in medicine — would force undergraduate students to concentrate on the theoretical aspects of medical science and hamper the development of clinical skills. He urged PM Modi to instead follow the existing system.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government has consistently opposed the introduction of the common medical entrance test National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET which was introduced in 2013. The Tamil Nadu Assembly even passed a Bill seeking exemption for the state from NEET in February 2022, which has been opposed by the Union government. The DMK has also repeatedly demanded that education be moved back to the State List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution from the Concurrent List, giving state governments exclusive powers to make laws and policies related to education.
In his letter to PM Modi, Stalin highlighted, “The NEET based medical admission system under the National Medical Commission (NMC) act has already adversely impacted the equitable school education based selection process. At this juncture, the proposed introduction of NExT will surely exacerbate the trend and cause irreparable damage to the interest of rurally and socially disadvantaged students and the public institutions under state governments.”
The introduction of National Exit Test (NExT) will be an additional burden on our young medical students, who already have a rigorous academic load. It will force them to focus more on the theoretical part of medicine during their course and internships and is bound to hamper… pic.twitter.com/v4xHchIx3K
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) June 13, 2023
He further assured PM Modi that MBBS degrees are conferred upon students only after they undergo rigorous training and examinations from recognised colleges following NMC norms while being monitored by state medical universities.