NExT: MBBS students in Himachal Pradesh medical college start week-long agitation against test

HAMIRPUR : A large group of final-year medical students from Dr Radhakrishnan Government Medical College here on Monday took out a march protesting the decision to hold the National Exit Test (NExT), saying there was not enough time to prepare for the exam. The students said their protest was part of a nationwide agitation being held between July 1 and July 7.

Nearly 70 MBBS students of the batch admitted in 2019 participated in the protest and they have also sent a letter to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu expressing their concerns related to the test. As per the National Medical Commission Act, the NExT will serve as a common qualifying final-year MBBS exam, a licentiate exam to practise modern medicine and for merit-based admission to postgraduate courses and a screening exam for foreign medical graduates who want to practise in India. The NMC has announced that the NExT exam for the batch admitted in 2019 will be held next year in two phases -- NExT Step 1 in May and NExT Step 2 in November.

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In letter sent to the CM, the spokespersons of the 2019 batch of the college, Ravi Kant and Itikas, said that competing for a national-level examination on such a short notice while maintaining college attendance "is unjust". "Even if we leave no stone unturned, six months is insufficient time to prepare for any entrance exam of PG level that covers 19 subjects that too maintaining 75 percent attendance, making logbooks, presenting seminars and attending the clinics," the students said. "We, the final year students of Medical Colleges in the state would like to bring to your attention that the recent notification regarding NExT exam to be conducted by National Medical Commission (NMC) for the very first time has come as a shock in middle of our final year," the letter read.

Violation of NMC act

Stating that the notification regarding the test was "a gross violation" of Section 49 of the National Medical Commission (NMC) Act, 2019, the students said that during the admission to the course in 2019, no such exam was mentioned anywhere in our curriculum. The 2019 batch in the college began its course on August 1, 2019 while the NMC Act was passed on August 8, 2019 and the act commenced in September 2020, the students said. According to Section 49 of the act, "any student who was studying for a degree, diploma or certificate in any medical institution immediately before the commencement of this Act shall continue to study and complete his course for such degree, diploma or certificate."

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"The institution shall continue to provide instructions and examinations for such students in accordance with the syllabus and studies as existed before such commencement and such student shall be deemed to have completed his course of study under this Act and shall be awarded degree, diploma or certificate under this Act," it stated. The students said that even when the new schedule came out after COVID-19 pandemic, nothing regarding the NExT was mentioned. Authorities have also introduced negative marking for a licensing exam that would degrade the passing percentage of students, they said.

"All these rules are being set keeping AIIMS curriculum in mind but NMC should understand that not every college has the same faculties and infrastructure and most importantly not everyone has the same time of completion of syllabus," the statement read. The 2019 batch has already had to face COVID-19 where clinical postings were hampered greatly and half of the classes were suspended, they said.