The Samikhsya Bureau
Quota for Odisha’s government school students in NEETbecome doctors and engineers, the State Government has decided to provide reservation to eligible government school and college students of Odisha in Medical and Engineering Colleges admissions in the state.
This will be applicable from the next academic year onwards.
The state government has embarked upon this unique initiative as per the direction of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, officials shared.
After introduction of centralized exams like NEET and JEE for medical and engineering courses, it is observed that the number of meritorious students from Government high schools and colleges in Odisha, eligible for admission in these institutions has been coming down over the years.
This is not due to lack of meritorious students but a deeper divide in access to coaching classes which is missing in rural areas, the officials observed.
It is a fact that these centralized competitive exams require special skill sets which are imparted mainly through the coaching centres and online coaching classes.
Due to such centres being limited to mostly urban pockets and the high economic cost of access to such facilities, thousands of meritorious students from the government school system are at a disadvantage and therefore, fare lower than their potential in the entrance examinations, they pointed out.
To finalize the modalities of implementation of the above in-principle decision, a high powered committee headed by Retired Judge of the High Court, will be constituted with eminent persons including educationists as members.
The Committee will be mandated to submit the report within three months so that the recommendations can be implemented from the next academic year.
