Thousands of MBBS students in Kerala have been protesting, seeking the postponement of their final year-examinations, citing unfinished syllabi due to less number of classes during the COVID-19 pandemic and lack of clinical exposure. They have petitioned against the Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS) for the same, and they also moved the Kerala High Court twice, one of which is being heard. The earlier petition by a group of students was dismissed by the court, as it stated that this was an issue faced by only a few students.
However, nearly 2,300 students have petitioned this time for the postponement of examinations, pointing out the insufficient attendance and clinical exposure. Final year MBBS students must complete 792 hours of clinical classes, as per the syllabus from the National Medical Council (NMC) and the Medical Council of India (MCI). The students, meanwhile, state that only 580 hours of classes have been held so far due to the pandemic and the restrictions imposed.
While classes ended mid-February, the exams are scheduled to be held from March end. “How can we prepare properly if the syllabus remains incomplete?” And in case we fail, we have to wait another eight months, which is one more academic year, to write the same subjects again. In such a scenario, we request the university to listen to the concerns of students before confirming the exam dates,” Adhithya Rajagopal, a medical student, told TNIE.
As most hospitals were only catering to COVID-19 cases, all medical services, including out-patient and in-patient services, were disrupted. This had reportedly affected the students’ education and elective procedures. According to another report in The New Indian Express, the petitioners state that their situation can be considered similar to the students from China who are forced to study medicine online without any clinical experience.
KUHS, on the other hand, has stated that online classes were started from April 2021, and that after physical classes were restarted from August that year, “clinical and practical training were given priority”. Citing this, the university claims that the loss was compensated for. But, students say that no such direction to start online classes in April was given by the university to the colleges, according to The Hindu report.
While the physical classes for the students had commenced in August, 2021, the KUHS reportedly insisted on conducting the examinations from March 31. The students say that they never got to examine patients or go on rounds with the specialists dealing with cases. This means that the students may not be educated about many important procedures or diseases, which may in turn affect the students while obtaining their licenses for medical practitioner or while applying for post-graduate courses, according to the students.
While KUHS cites Karnataka and Gujarat universities as examples of institutions that conducted exams in March, the students say that in Kerala, physical classes began later than in other places. The students had also alleged that the university officials were releasing conflicting statements regarding the examinations. The Board of Studies had claimed that it had suggested postponement of the examinations to the Vice-Chancellor. However, the V-C purportedly wants to conduct the examination despite the colleges pressure to postpone, the students alleged.
However, KUHS Vice-Chancellor Dr Mohanan Kunnummal has said, “The university is acting as per the direction of the NMC and also based on the HC ruling on a petition filed by around 35 students. The NMC has directed the completion of the examinations by March-end. However, a group of students had petitioned the HC seeking postponement of the examinations, which was denied by the court. The court had set the date for starting the examinations as March 31. As for the students who are not ready for the examinations, the court had directed the varsity to allow them to appear after six months. Also, the varsity was directed to consider this as their first appearance and no fee was to be sourced from them”.