What is the Mystery behind the minus mark? Is NEET an absolute failure?

NEET was supposed to uproot the malpractices now it stands accused of Getting admission to medical colleges while scoring single-digit numbers, or even when the scores go into minus as it was highlighted in the newspaper is appalling. More appalling is the fact that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

As per the reports, there are no individual cut-off marks for each subject- Physics, Chemistry, Biology- many students in 2017, 2018 have scored even negative marks in one subject and could still get admission in medical colleges, of course, private medical colleges. But nonetheless, nobody will stop them from becoming a doctor after the course ends.

After a score of " minus 4" for example, in Chemistry will sink into oblivion, unless years later, the doctor concerned gets accused of wrong treatment.

The National Eligibility- Cum-Entrance-Test (NEET) had an embattled history before it became mandatory and the only way to pursue medical education in India.

The pre-NEET era was not as smooth as every state used to conduct its own medical entrance examinations. There was no parity in the curriculum, students from one state used to opt for entrances of some other states only to multiply their chances of becoming a doctor. Private medical colleges used to conduct their own tests.The situation was not all that ideal.

The common entrance was introduced in 2002 for the first time. The state government was up in arms against the test as a uniform test deprived the states of the rights to admit students on their own terms. After all, education features in the concurrent list.

The primary objective was to get the State Governments on board and make NEET workable

So, the pattern kept allowing leeways in order for the state governments to agree to these.

Initially, the qualifying benchmark was decided to be 50% marks in each of the 3 subjects. This 50% in each subject became 50 percentile, and that too overall

There are 180 questions, Chemistry 45 questions, Biology 45 questions from Botany and 45, from Zoology. Physics 45 questions four marks per question.

scoring 50 percentile means obtained marks should be at or above the marks below which 50 % of scores fall. It might come across a little complicated. But what it led to is simple.

Candidates who scored 150 or less out of 720 qualified NEET and got admission to some medical colleges. No wonder, on individual subjects, they scored single-digit numbers or less than zero, courtesy negative marking. Which is harrowing.

And which is not going to change? Only the responsibility to conduct NEET will shift from CBSE to the yet-to-be-formed National Testing Agency (NTA).

Experimenting with higher education, which is throwing up such negative results, will keep going on.