Private Medical Universities demand NEET exemption for foreign students

Mangaluru: The government's decision to make the National Eligibility Entrance Test(NEET) mandatory seems to have hit the foreign student and NRI admissions hard. NRI student numbers seem to have fallen due to students not being aware of NEET being made mandatory, due to the poor publicity on the part of website announcements.

Foreign students having chosen to stay away as NEET has put an end to the 'Study in India' concept, points out a recent report in TOI. Both the endings have put an end to the revenue that these students fetched for medical institutions, by paying 4 times the sum paid by the Indian counterparts. Officials of educational institutions which have a greater number of medical institutions in undivided Dakshina Kannada district seem to be nodding their heads to the present plight of NEET having been made mandatory.

Medical College campuses have seen zero fresh entrants ever since NEET has been made mandatory for medical and dental courses in India. 15% quota is otherwise reserved for NRI/foreign students category in all the deemed universities with medical and dental courses. With no response from both NRI and foreign quota students, NRI seats this year have been converted to general category seats.

"Our government talks about the Study in India concept to attract more foreign students to Indian campuses. But, by not giving relaxation in NEET, we're losing out. Medical/ dental institutions are feeling the pinch. Though one exam for all is good, there should be a separate policy when it comes to foreign students planning to study medicine in India," MS Moodithaya, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Nitte university told TOI. The state board students, he said were also finding it difficult to crack NEET .

Nitte University which offers dental and medical courses receives numerous students from Malaysia, Nepal and other South East Asian countries.

Speaking about NEET having hit NRI quota admissions due to lack of awareness, Dr Moodithaya said, "To publicise about NEET being mandatory for UG/ PG medical/ dental courses, we have issued a notification on our college website," Dr Nandish BT, Controller of Examinations, Yenepoya University revealed that the highest number of foreign students at this university were from Malaysia.

On similar lines Dr HS Ballal, Pro-Chancellor, Manipal University said making NEET compulsory has shattered the Indian dream of having more and more foreign students on medical campuses.

"More than 4 lakh Indian students go to foreign universities to study but only 30-40 percent foreigners come to developing countries. We respect the NEET system. But why should it be held for foreign students who don't follow the CBSE curriculum in their country? Even Indian students who have studied the state board curriculum find it a hard nut to crack. The government must strive to make some relaxation in NEET at least for admission of foreign students," he pointed out to daily.

Manipal University attracts students from 54 countries. Both Manipal and Mangaluru have 500 medical entrants come in every year, of these 500 entries, 75 are reserved for NRI/foreign students

An earlier story done by the Medical Dialogues team foreign nationals aspiring to pursue their Post-graduation in various medical subjects in India were informed by the central government that it was not mandatory for them to have a temporary MCI registration in order to appear in NEET PG.The authorities at the same time made clear that those foreign nationals who cleared the exam and took admission in PG courses would be required to take a temporary registration for the duration of the PG course at the Indian medical college/institute.