Common medical entrance
It will ensure transparency and fair play
IN a nation where often moolah rather than merit becomes the criterion for admission to various professional colleges, the Medical Council of India’s proposal to have a “single common national entrance” examination for all medical colleges deserves to be welcomed. Indeed, the move, that aims to cover nearly 290 medical colleges in the country, both government and private, will not only be conducive to standardisation but also transparency in admission procedures.
Malpractices have often been reported in admission to private medical and other professional colleges. More recently, even the Supreme Court felt there was foul play in admission to medical and dental colleges. Though capitation fees has been banned by nearly every state in the country, sting operations have time and again exposed how private colleges demand and get away with huge capitation fees, thus making a mockery of the admission process. As things stand, there is a yawning gap between the standards of education in different medical colleges. While the functioning of many medical colleges has come under the scanner, there are discrepancies at the entrance level as well.
Common entrance test, a fair tool for uniform evaluation, has of late become popular in
