NEXT likely to be delayed by 1 year: Report

New Delhi: While the counselling schedule for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET) Examination 2022 has been revised, there are speculations that the National Exit Test (NEXT) which is set to be implemented from 2023, shall be delayed by one year.

According to a recent report by Moneycontrol, the confirmation in this regard has come from the top officials of the Union Health Ministry who have also mentioned that there are still no clarity regarding which among the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the National Board of Examinations (NBE) shall conduct the centralized exit exam.

Officials in the Union Health Ministry and the NMC have pointed out that the Commission is not yet fully prepared for introducing NEXT because several decisions regarding the conduction of the test are yet to be taken.

Such unresolved issues include the agency which will be in charge of conducting NEXT, the framework of NEXT including the syllabus and also the confusion whether the test shall be an analytical test or multiple choice questions based exam. Besides, the students will also require enough time to prepare and get adjusted to this new system.

The speculations regarding delaying NEXT are being made when recently replying to Right to Information (RTI) queries, NMC had mentioned that the NEXT exam shall be implemented from 2023.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that NExT, a common exit exam envisaged by the government to standardize medical education across the country, was proposed by NMC as a part of the bill passed in the year 2019. The exam is set to replace the NEET PG and FMGE exams.

Also Read:A sneak peak into NEXT exam

The NEXT exam would not only serve as a licentiate exam for those who have done MBBS in India as well as abroad but would also serve as a gateway to admission to the Postgraduate broad-specialty medical education in the country. In other words, MBBS graduates will have to complete their final internship to earn the licence for practising as a doctor in India. Besides, Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) have to qualify through the exam after it becomes operational in order to get registration with State Medical Councils for practising as a doctor in India.

In addition, to get admission to MD, MS, DM, MCh programmes, the doctors will have to qualify for the NEXT instead of NEET PG once it initiates. As per various sources, the NEXT examination was scheduled to commence from 2023. As per the NMC Act, NEXT exam is set to be conducted within three years of the constitution of NMC.

Earlier this year, while responding to a plea seeking further reduction of NEET PG cut-off percentile, the Central Government had informed the Delhi High Court bench regarding the possibility of introducing as "Exit Test", which is similar to AIBE to lawyers and would act as a qualifier for the medical graduates for obtaining their medical registration.

Recently, a copy of an RTI reply was doing rounds on the social media that claimed that the NEXT exam would be implemented from 2023. As per the RTI, the NMC confirmed about this and mentioned, "The NEXT will be implemented from 2023. The modalities of NEXT will be clear once NEXT regulations will be published by NMC."

Amid such an assurance from the top medical commission, now the Union Government officials have reportedly hinted about the possible delay of one year for implementing the common exit test.

While commenting on this, a senior official belonging to the medical education wing of the Union Health Ministry told Money Control, "Discussions are happening whether the National Board of Examinations (NBE) or the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, should conduct the test."

Apart from this the official informed the daily that decisions need to be taken regarding the framework of the examination including the syllabus and also regarding the fact if the exam shall be an analytical test or a multiple choice questions based test.

It has been further mentioned by the official that NMC is not yet prepared completely for organizing this test and therefore, the earliest NEXT can be implemented will be in 2024.

While the NMC chairman SC Sharma is yet to make any announcement in this matter, officials in the NMC informed Money Control on the condition of anonymity that in order to commence NEXT exam, apart from deciding on the examination cell and agency, the students shall also have to be provided with sufficient time for preparation.

Currently, NBE under the Union Health Ministry conducts the NEET PG exam for admission to MD MS (Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery) courses. NBE also has the responsibility for conducting the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination for including the medical graduates from abroad in the healthcare system of India. However, the final year MBBS examinations are conducted by individual colleges. After the implementation of NEXT, all these exams shall be merged into one single test.

Speaking about the issue, the president of Federation of  All India Medical Association (FAIMA), Dr. Rohan Krishnan told Medical Dialogues, "From the very beginning of NMC it was being proposed that NEXT would be implemented from 2023. However, in order to commence the process for the next batch the counselling for the previous batch needs to be sorted first.

Referring to the recent notice where the NEET PG 2022 counselling has been rescheduled, he added, "The problem is NMC, MCC and NBE are not working in a synchronized manner. They are only pointing fingers at each other and taking part in the blame game. MCC blamed the delayed pending LOPs which have to be issued by NMC as the reason for the recent delay in the counselling."

"In any country, the PG examination is a very crucial and serious one. But every year with some excuses be it covid or Supreme Court case, with some or the other excuse the counselling is getting delayed. Last year also we had to protest for commencing the counselling. At that time, the pending court case before the Apex court was being cited as the reason for the delay in the counselling. Recently the top court has clarified that if will not put a stay on the counselling. Since the court has denied, now the blame is being shifted to other authorities," he explained.

Mentioning that nobody is ready for taking the honour of the responsibility, he added, "All of this comes under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the onus of this responsibility goes to the Health Minister and he should interfere and make sure that the counselling takes part properly."

Referring to the NEXT exam, he pointed out about the uncertainty regarding the exam and mentioned, "Right now nothing is clear about NEXT examination. It is being said that instead of the final year examination we will conduct NEXT. This whole ideology is absurd because in final year MBBS examination students are being asked questions about the final year MBBS syllabus. However in case of NEET PG the students need to cover the entire MBBS syllabus. I also think this is the correct pattern."

Adding that too much experimentation without any authenticity and lack of clarity regarding the roadmap might backfire and result in chaos, Dr Rohan added, "Such confusion will result in the psychological and mental trauma to the students since it is their career that the authorities are playing with. For planning something new the students will also need time regarding the examination pattern, framework of the examination, subjects covered, and the overall scenario. I think at least one year should be given before implementing NEXT. Students should be well accustomed to the new system. There should be more mock tests, more medical colleges should be informed beforehand so that they can prepare their students about the NEXT exam. The entire system cannot be changed so suddenly without proper planning as it will prove to be detrimental to the entire country"

Referring to the stand of FAIMA, Dr Rohan added, "Any sudden change without clarity shall be opposed in the hardest manner because it will not be good for the students in general and it will ultimately affect the patients. First, the authorities need to complete the NEET PG 2022 counselling at the earliest and we know for sure that it will not happen before October or November. Therefore, obviously you cannot plan something new in January, February or March."

While commenting on the manner, the RDA President of LHMC, Dr. Sabyasachi Mandal said, "NMC has recently changed the CBME curriculum and the students are still trying to understand the process. Regarding NEXT as well, they should be given enough time to prepare. This examination is going to be a very important examination of their life and it will also be an Exit test and also an entrance test for the PG admission. It should be clearer to the students about what is happening, about the exact syllabus, about what curriculum to follow, and at least they should be given six to seven months for preparation."

"It is true that the system should be upgraded and changed from time to time. Education system is changing worldwide. Change is always welcome but change should be clarified," he mentioned.

He also talked about the need for practical training of the students and added, "In the process of this change the focus should not be shifted only to theory and the in between process of internship should be properly implemented."

Also Read: NEXT from 2023, Regulations to be published soon: NMC in RTI response