Tamil Nadu: Girl power corner boys for MBBS seats

Chennai: Girl power at medical colleges has gradually begun to take a prominence, with more and more of them joining medical colleges than boys. The indicator to this gradual rise can be studied from the better performance of girls in the standard XII examinations as compared to boys. Statistics over the years have gradually shown that the percentage of girls entering medical colleges is far higher than that of boys in Tamil Nadu and this number remains unchanged in spite of NEET having been introduced.

A recent report in Hindu has revealed the comparative statistics over the year stating that since 2009, the percentage of girls entering government medical colleges has been between 49 and 56. This year (2017- 2018) the number has risen to 54. 2010, however, saw a sudden leap at 56.

Self-financing colleges have seen a higher swing than the government sector with the number swinging between 54 and 60.These numbers show a swing to the side of the women candidates since the last decade.

“It has been like this for many years now. Maybe 40 years back, when we were students, the gender ratio would have been 70:30 in favour of the boys. However, that started gradually changing, and more girls started entering the profession. Gradually it evened out, and then in the last 15-20 years, the tide has turned in favour of girls,” S. Mohanasundaram, former Director of Medical Education told Hindu

According to a senior government medical college woman professor, the trend changed in the 1990s, when entrance examinations, Standard XII marks, or sheer merit decided on who would get in. In the 1990s with entrance exams, the girls were seen performing better; having an edge over the boys in the Standard XII results, they naturally had better chances of getting into medical colleges.

Speaking of social change as another reason for the changing trend, she said: “Earlier when we were studying to be doctors, things like finding appropriate grooms for their daughters governed what kind, of course, the girls could take. Even if the girls performed well, their parents may not have been so keen on sending them to medical college. That seems to have changed in the 1990s.”

However, for the years which government school data was available, the female-male entry into medical colleges did not emerge as consistent. While for two years, more girls from government schools secured admission to MBBS course, the other two years saw boys in higher numbers entering the course. Also traditionally, in Tamil Nadu, the number of government school students getting MBBS has been low, sometimes less than 1 percent.

An all-time low reflected with five seats this year, reports the Hindu.