With no grace marks from NMC, 101 MBBS students of Medinirai Medical College fail exam

Daltonganj: A total number of 101 MBBS students belonging to Medinirai Medical College and Hospital (MMCH), Daltonganj will have to appear in examinations again as the National Medical Commission (NMC) has clarified that no grace marks would be allowed to these students. 

Among these 101 students, a total number of 99 students belong to the 2022 batch and two more unsuccessful students belong to the 2021 batch. They have lost the option to avail the benefit of five grace marks and therefore, they will have to appear in the examinations again in the first week of February, the controller of examinations at the Nilamber Pitamber University (NPU), Dr. M K Deepak informed TOI.

The provision of grace marks was discontinued by NMC in its amended curriculum of the Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME), 2023. 

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the final Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) Regulations 2023 were published by the National Medical Commission (NMC) on 01.08.2023. The document also included the Phase-wise training time distribution for professional development. Regarding the assessment of the MBBS examination, NMC specified the attendance, internal assessment, and university examinations including the criteria for passing the examination.

Also Read: NMC releases final regulations on MBBS Curriculum

After the publication of the CBME Curriculum Guidelines, NMC issued a corrigendum on September 01, 2023, and the UG Board of NMC introduced an amendment to the passing criteria for MBBS exams. Modifying the passing criteria, the Commission mentioned, "In subjects that have two papers, the learner must secure minimum 40% of marks in aggregate (both papers together) to pass in the said subject."

The Criteria for passing in a subject was also modified and the Commission stated in this regard that "A candidate shall obtain 50% marks in aggregate and 60:40 (minimum) or 40:60 (minimum) in University conducted examination separately in Theory and in Practical (practical includes; practical/clinical and viva voce) in order to be declared as passed in that subject."

In the final CBME Curriculum, NMC further clarified that "There shall be no grace marks to be considered for passing in an examination."

As per the latest media report by the Times of India, the President of NMC UG Medical Education Board Dr. Aruna V Vanikar wrote to the controller of exams in the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), Dindori, Sandeep Sitaram Kadu on 5 January 2024 and clarified about these amended rules. The letter by NMC UGMEB stated that "no grace marks will be provided to any student appearing in any examination conducted after the publication of the regulation dated 1.8.2023."

TOI adds that due to these amended rules a total number of 99 students of the 2022 batch and two students of the 2021 batch from MMCH, Daltonganj have lost the option of availing the benefits of five grace marks, if required.

Commenting on the matter, the controller of exams in the Nilamber Pitamber University (NPU), Dr M K Deepak said, "We are set to hold exams for these 101 medical students in the first week of February."

Also Read: NMC Revises CBME Guidelines, Modifies MBBS Exam Passing Criteria