Centre rejects Tamil Nadu’s request to abolish NEET, CM to carry all-party meet to proceed the struggle
The Tamil Nadu authorities has been within the highlight just lately for its ongoing push to reform the state’s schooling system. Within the newest improvement, Chief Minister (CM) MK Stalin knowledgeable the state meeting that the Central authorities has rejected Tamil Nadu’s request to be exempted from the Nationwide Eligibility-cum-Entrance Check (NEET). Addressing the meeting, Stalin acknowledged, “Regardless of the Tamil Nadu authorities offering all needed clarifications via varied ministries, the Union authorities has now rejected the exemption from NEET.”
CM Stalin condemned the rejection, calling it a “darkish chapter in federalism.” He argued that NEET disproportionately advantages privileged city college students who can afford costly teaching, leaving rural and economically deprived college students at an obstacle. In response, Tamil Nadu has pledged to proceed its struggle to make medical schooling extra accessible by pushing for faculty admissions primarily based on class 12 scores as an alternative of NEET.
Tamil Nadu’s struggle to abolish NEET
In 2024, CM Stalin formally requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to grant Tamil Nadu an exemption from NEET for medical admissions, proposing that class 12 examination scores be the only real criterion for admission to medical schools. The request was rooted in a number of elements, together with considerations over the equity and accessibility of the NEET examination.
Stalin highlighted that the monetary burden of NEET teaching leaves many rural and underprivileged college students and not using a honest probability to compete for medical seats in prime establishments. The transfer to abolish NEET additionally comes from the current NEET paper leak which led to many questioning its credibility for nationwide degree medical faculty entrance examination.
Following the rejection from the Centre, CM Stalin introduced plans to convene an all-party assembly on April 9, 2025 to debate the following steps within the state’s effort to abolish NEET. The assembly will give attention to rallying political help to uphold the desire of the folks of Tamil Nadu.
Different states, together with West Bengal and Karnataka, have additionally proposed scrapping NEET for state-level medical faculty admissions, indicating a rising regional push in opposition to the examination.
Tamil Nadu’s schooling coverage and opposition to nationwide schooling reforms
Along with its stance on NEET, the Tamil Nadu authorities has been vocal in opposing the Central authorities’s Nationwide Training Coverage (NEP). Final 12 months, the state launched its personal schooling coverage, which goals to carry vital adjustments to the schooling system. The proposed coverage includes a four-stage schooling system (5+3+2+2), beginning formal education at age 5, and focuses on Tamil and English as the first mediums of instruction. It additionally seeks to eradicate public exams till Class 10 and substitute rote studying with open-book assessments.
The Tamil Nadu authorities has additionally expressed considerations in regards to the NEP’s potential imposition of Hindi on the state, with accusations that the coverage undermines Tamil language and tradition. In 2025, Tamil Nadu declined to take part within the Prime Minister’s Faculties for Rising India (PM-SHRI) scheme, additional highlighting its opposition to the NEP. Experiences have indicated that the state’s schooling funds have been withheld by the Centre attributable to non-compliance with the NEP, and these funds have but to be launched.
Below CM Stalin’s management, Tamil Nadu continues its struggle to form an schooling system that aligns with the state’s distinctive cultural and linguistic wants. Regardless of going through setbacks because of the Central authorities’s push for a unified nationwide schooling system, Tamil Nadu stays resolute in its efforts to create an schooling framework that’s extra inclusive and consultant of its folks.
(with inputs from PTI)
