Tamil Nadu provides NEET crash course to over 8,200 govt school students
The highest number of enrolment for NEET crash course coaching from government and aided schools is in Tirupur, with about 420 candidates
A total of 8,200 government and government-aided school students are being provided NEET crash course coaching in the State this year, with an aim to improve the performance of the State board students in the examination. The option of residential coaching is also being expanded by the government.
Senior officials from the School Education Department say that the students are being given a month-long crash course to familiarise them with the NCERT exam pattern, model question banks, and time management to appear for the examination. They say that the department will continue to support the students through coaching, even as the NEET exemption is awaited.
130 coaching centres
As many as 33 districts have started crash courses at 130 coaching centres. This includes over 2,100 students from Tamil medium government schools and 2,800 English medium government schools. About 1,800 students are from Tamil medium government-aided schools and there are about 1,500 English medium government-aided schools. The performance of government school students improved in 2024, with the top score among government school NEET aspirants being 669 marks, which was 569 in 2023 and 518 in 2022.
A senior official from the School Education Department said that a month-long crash course is being given for the medical aspirants. “We are also ensuring that the students get the knowledge on par with the CBSE/ISC board students. The students are made familiar with the structure followed in the NEET examination and the question paper format, besides the regular teaching,” he said.
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Highest enrolment from Tirupur
The highest number of enrolment for NEET crash course coaching from government and aided schools is in Tirupur with about 420 candidates, followed by 400 candidates in Virudhunagar, and 390 candidates in Kanyakumari.
"There are 96 government school students in Tirupur who are given regular coaching based on the subject since September, with preliminary preparations from June. After the board examination in March, the crash course is being given on weekdays. There are four sessions that are being taken for the students and the tests are being conducted on weekends. The answer key, explanation of the answers, and negative marking format is being discussed with the students so that the students are aware of the exam pattern," said Suresh G, NEET coaching district coordinator of Tirupur.
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Residential coaching
The government is also expanding its residential coaching options to provide further support to students. As per the data from the Tamil Nadu School Education Department, residential coaching is being given in Dindigul, Salem, Namakkal, Sivagangai, Thanjavur and Tiruvallur, after obtaining parents’ consent, besides the day coaching for the candidates appearing for the NEET exam. The students are also being instructed to take online tests and given preparation material over smartphones as well.
"Experts in respective subjects are being invited to take up the revision for the students and share exclusive tips for the examination. The classes for the regular subjects are being taken for the students by the senior school teachers. The last week of the test is focused on revision tests based on the NEET format. We are conducting a complete 720 marks test, similar to NEET, based on the upgraded syllabus for the government school students," said S Udhayakumar, Chengalpattu district NEET coaching coordinator.
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Experts create question banks
Despite awaiting NEET exemption, the School Education Department has assured that coaching support will continue for students. By providing coaching to a significant number of students, the government aims to improve the prospects of State board students in the NEET examination and pave the way for them to pursue careers in medicine.
Stating that the free government coaching will help more number of state board students to clear the NEET examination, a senior official from the School Education Department said that the government school teachers are giving practice question papers based on the NEET format to prepare the government school students on par with other boards. "We are trying to ensure that there is no need for government school students to go for private coaching. The question banks are being created by the experts, which constitute about 40 per cent of the questions that are asked in NEET," said the official from the School Education Department.
