Patna: Medical students in Bihar have been protesting on the streets after a large number of them were declared to have failed the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) professional examination. Angry students are now demanding that they be promoted on the basis of internal marks but their demand has been rejected by the authorities.
As per reports, more than 1,100 students of the 2019 batch from nine medical colleges across the state appeared for the first university examination conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic in March. Of them, 447 students or 37 per cent failed the examination conducted by the Aryabhatta Knowledge University (AKU), Patna. The results were declared on August 30.
“Around 37 per cent of students have failed the MBBS exam,” AKU controller of examination Rajeev Ranjan told the media on Thursday. Angry students later met the university vice-chancellor demanding that they be promoted but their demand was rejected. Instead, they were advised by the university officials to appear for a supplementary exam to be conducted later this month. A university official said this is the worst performance by the MBBS students since the university came into being in 2010.
“The failed MBBS students are seeking promotion but since there is no such provision in the National Medical Commission, we have advised them to appear for the second (supplementary) exam which will begin from September 27,” the controller added.
Former principal of Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) Dr SN Sinha said there was no such report of a large number of students failing the MBBS examination in the past. “This explains how the teaching quality has suffered in recent years. The failure of some 40 per cent students in the exam is quite worrying,” Dr Sinha added.
Protesting students too made similar complaints. They said their classes were conducted online but examinations were held offline even though the quality of teaching during the pandemic remained far from satisfactory. They also blamed change in exam patterns for their poor performance in the examination.
The students also alleged their answer-sheets had not been checked properly but University officials rejected their claim saying the students failed to perform since they were under stress. They said the MBBS course is highly competitive and requires a very high level of concentration to pass the test with good marks.
In another setback to the students, the university administration has also rejected their demand for re-evaluation of their answer sheets. “If at all re-evaluation has to be done, it will be for the whole batch. Already 63 per cent of students have passed the exam,” university controller Ranjan said.
The MBBS is an undergraduate medical degree in the course to become a doctor. The length of the MBBS course is five years and one year of internship in nonprofit organizations, medical centres, and rehabilitation centres.
Nine medical colleges whose students failed to clear the first year of MBBS exam included Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH), Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College and Hospital (ANMMCH), Gaya, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital (JLNMCH), Bhagalpur, Madhepura Medical College (MMC), Government Medical College (GMC), Betia, Madhubani Medical College (MMC) and Vardhman Medical College (VMC), Pawapuri (Nalanda).
