NEET(UG) attempts capped at 3, age limit also in place
Medical aspirants across the nation would now only get three shots at the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test(NEET). The cap has been introduced to discourage the thousands of aspirants who keep trying their luck.
It’s also decided that candidates have to fulfil a new age criterion if they are to sit for the medical and dental exam. While the minimum age is 17 years the maximum age for open category students is 25 years and 30 years for the reserved category. Till date NEET has never had a maximum age limit nor a cap for the number of attempts.
The decision regarding this was taken at a UGC meeting that was held on Tuesday in Delhi.
Related to this, Dr Pravin Shingare, director at the Maharashtra directorate of medical education and research(DMER) had said that it’s a good decision. He said that some students keep taking the test and when they cannot get through, join a BSc college and continue taking the medical entrance test.
The rule would also cut off the faculty of coaching classes from continually attempting the test so that they could understand the changing patterns. It’s been pointed out that coaching classes sometimes field candidates which occasionally leads to cheating. It’s hoped that the age limit and the cap on the number of attempts would force the candidates to focus on the field of their passion.
The all-India data for NEET aspirants is unavailable. However, in Maharashtra the number of older candidates competing with 17 year olds is rising every year. For instance around 12,000 aspirants took the CET in 2007. But in 2008, the number was 13,568. As per data collected from DMER, the oldest candidate was 38 years old. At least another 100 aspirants were in their early 30s.
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