Maharashtra: MBBS students worried over physical exams

Photo for representational purpose

A few days before their exam is to start, students of the second and third year of MBBS have raised serious concerns over writing papers physically in their respective colleges. Instead, the students want an alternative mode of examination, a survey by a students' body has shown. Authorities say physical exams are a must for MBBS students.

About 70 per cent of medical students stay far away from their colleges in Maharashtra and 80 per cent of them will need public transport to reach exam centres. Since 82 per cent students live in hostels, there is a fear of transmission, said the Association of State Medical Students Maharashtra (ASMI-UG Wing) that carried out the survey. It has shared the findings with the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) that conducts the exam.

"I stay in Satara and my college is in Nagpur. Throughout the year, the academics have been online. Now going to college just to appear for exams is rather full of concerns about the rising number of infections," said Atharva Shinde, a medical student.

Also Read: Mumbai University-affiliated colleges in coastal districts postpone exams

Shinde shared, "All medical colleges are attached to hospitals and we will live in hostels where we would share the place with those working on Covid-19 duty. This just raises alarming concern. Most of us are not even vaccinated." Students said the exam was originally scheduled for January, but continued to be postponed. "And now as per the new schedule it is to begin from June 10. Entire Maharashtra is under lockdown till May end and we are still unsure of what happens after," Shinde added.

Mrunmayi Vaidya, who stays in Mumbai but is a student of a Kolhapur college, said, "The MUHS has not even declared detailed SOPs on how students' safety is going to be ensured. The entire academic year we were studying from home and none of us has had any chance of having practical experience. If that could not be done due to fear of infection, how can exams happen?"

Dr. Ajit Pathak, controller of examination, denied any possibility of having an alternative mode of assessment. He said, "No health science university in India has held exams otherwise. MUHS too has successfully held two exams in 2020 through offline mode. The examination will have to be in offline mode."

On the travelling concerns of students, Dr Pathak said, "To avoid overcrowding in classes, online lectures began. But no student was supposed to go home. Many parents have taken those decisions out of concern as anyway lectures were online and teachers who are doctors were also busy serving patients."

June 10
Date when the exams start