TRUTH, LIES & INSIDE STORIES OF DENTAL EDUCATION

It was always about money & Finance

“THE TRUTH BEHIND THE TRUTH”

July 4 2013 there was a movement to conduct all India Single Entrance Exams for all the BDS & MDS seats in all the private colleges in India.

This exam was called NEET and forms were also rolled out.

Goal of NEET at that time

The BDS, MBBS and PG seats in all the private colleges were to be filled strictly on the basis of marks scored in the NEET exam.

Idea was to promote merit and reduce the costs of these courses being demanded by Colleges.

But the situation was still not clear as of 2015.

All over India deemed colleges conduct their own entrance exams for admission to MDS seats. But there has always been suspicion and allegations by students that huge sums of money are exchanged for seats. In states like Karnataka, COMED K conducts entrance exams for MDS seats.  Though its a very good transparent exam, there are still silent rumours regarding lot of money involved.

No one knows the truth but rumours keep flying.

” Na baap bada na Bahiya … The whole thing is that Sabse bada rupiya … ”

But can we blame the Colleges ???

See Next : Are Private Colleges To be blamed ? ? ?

But can we blame the Private Colleges ???

Are we right in Doing so ?

We can’t blame the private colleges completely.

As a dental student you should be aware of all the inside things & read on this article with an open mind to realise the truth behind the truth.

Do you have an idea how much it costs to run a college for a single month.

Just have a look at the monthly expenditure of a private deemed college PER DEPARTMENT

Salary of all the staffs (From tutor to HOD) + Salary of All Non Doctor Staffs + Dental Materials for 30 days for each department + Electricity Bill + Maintenance + Many More.

(Unlike the Govt colleges for Private Colleges Govt. Doesn’t Supply Any Money)

Not only this, the moment a group starts to open a college there are so many rules, regulations and norms that are needed to be covered. And to get these approval a lot expenditure is done. Getting a land for the college is also so costly in the current scenario.

It does cost a fortune to run the colleges.

The truth as they say, is some times stranger than the fiction.

And today we will be decoding this truth.

It does cost a fortune to run the colleges. And colleges are never owned by a single person. Many rich people come together (some with intention to give back to society & some with the intention to invest the excess cash they have) & pool the money in the name of a trust , gather all the necessary approvals , lands & finally build a college.

After having invested so much of time & money (black or white) its now time for them to wait. And they wait for the college to be viable financially. It does take a lot of time & patience.

And finally in due course of time the college makes a name for itself and it becomes financially viable after the passing out of 2 to 3 batches. By then a steady source of admissions is guaranteed every year. Now it’s the time for all the investors to take their share of profit every year or month depending on how much each one has invested.

This whole cycle is a self sustaining ecosystem that not only provides opportunities to students to study further but also to all the investors with excess of cash to invest in a respectable cause (opening & managing a college does bring lot of respect and power) & also to earn more money in the end.

See Next Slide :

The real reason is too less Govt. Colleges & Govt Seats

GOVT DENTAL COLLEGES (BDS/MDS)

TOO LITTLE – TOO LESS

All of us dental graduates aspire to do MDS from Govt. Colleges. Why ?

There is a certain sense of pride getting through entrance exams to get in to government colleges. Then there is the adequate stipend and the best part is the expenditure on the course is very very minimal.

If you do your BDS & MDS in a govt. college then you are definitely blessed and talented.

But sadly it’s not enough any more.

For thousands of dental graduates where are the Govt. seats to study higher ?

Just Saying that ” Only The Best will get through the entrance and study MDS “

What do you expect the remaining students are their parents to do ???

Go home & do nothing.

And in such a case when there is a private college giving the students and parents a chance to continue their higher education …

then they feel ” Why Not ? “

So you see the real cause here is the scarcity of lots of colleges that creates a deficit situation and here the private colleges that provide the education gain a huge upper hand and students and parents are under their mercy or command !

Next Slide

The Reason of fight between Govt. & Private Dental Colleges

And How NEET is going to affect Private Colleges

How A Single Window Exam (NEET)

Affects The Private College Ecosystem ?

It costs a fortune to run the colleges. And colleges are never owned by a single person. Many rich people come together ( some with intention to give back to society & some with the intention to invest the excess cash they have) & pool the money in the name of a trust , gather all the necessary approvals , lands & finally build a college.

After having invested so much of time & money, its now time for them to wait. And they wait for the college to be viable financially. It does take a lot of time & patience.

And finally in due course of time the college makes a name for itself and it becomes financially viable after the passing out of 2 to 3 batches. By then a steady source of admissions is guaranteed every year. Now it’s the time for all the investors to take their share of profit every year or month depending on how much each one has invested.

This whole cycle is a self sustaining ecosystem that not only provides opportunities to students to study further but also to all the investors with excess of cash (black or white) to invest in a respectable cause ( opening & managing a college does bring lot of respect and power) & also to earn more money in the end.

ANY SINGLE WINDOW GOVT.EXAM in real sense was a big disturbance to this ecosystem.

 See Next Slide :

How NEET will Affect the Private Colleges

How SINGLE WINDOW GOVT EXAMS

will affect the colleges

SINGLE WINDOW GOVT EXAMS means that the High cost Private Colleges will lose the control over their seats. They won’t be in control anymore as to who should get the admission.

That control over the PG/MDS seats admission is the main point of power !

How so !!!! ???

India is a country of exponentially increasing population. Around 40 % of the population is in the age group of 20 to 35 years – the youth who are actively fighting to make a career and higher studies in the Indian society. There is a mad rush in all the education streams.

And especially if you are a dental or medical student this mad rush is further enhanced because of higher number of dental graduates and less than 1/4 th of MDS seats.

So in a such a situation the CONTROL the deemed colleges have over their seats is so crucial.

Students are so desperate to get a seat that many parents willingly or unwillingly agree to pay huge sums of Money to secure a MDS seat for their child.

Please note this money that the students/ parents pay , is not a waste money.

This is the money that goes in to paying for all the modern equipments, salary to all the top n famous staffs , all sorts of govt charges n bills & finally the percentage of profit to all the investors. You see it’s not an easy thing to run a college.

But There is a Dark Lining Here ! 

In the end the huge amount of money is indirectly put the use of students and at the same time providing profit to the share holders.

This might look unpleasant from an individual point of view, but if this does not happen, then the college will close down due to fund shortage.

And if the college closes then not only some people will lose their money but thousands of students will not get in to a professional course. Such a scene is neither beneficial to the college owners or the students.

NEET was targeting this control that the colleges have.

If the colleges lose this control then they are in a position to lose crores of money that is in some way essential for the survival of the college.

But at the same time – without any regulating exams likes NEET the Private College Ecosystem is getting extremely pricy. Parents almost get in to competition among each other, shelling out millions and millions to get the BDS or MDS seat for their kids. 

Then it just becomes a bidding war where money & pride becomes the priority without any idea whether the kid is good enough to sustain the extreme pressures of being a medical / health science student. 

NEET has the power to take away this controlling power from private colleges and they are by law forced to choose students from among the NEET rank holders. They won’t have the choice to choose candidates and the price bidding war stops. NEET also will restrict how much money a college can ask. If they demand too high a Fees, Students won’t choose the college and college by law cannot take in students outside NEET. So many high price colleges will be forced to cut down the price, to attract students to join their college.

So, NEET in a way is going to become a block for the PROFITABILITY , SURVIVABILITY & FEASIBILITY of all the high maintenance Deemed Private Colleges.

At the same time many students who can’t afford to pay so much and completely rely on their entrance exam merit to get a MDS seat end up feeling cheated. They get frustrated with the system and feel money is being given preference over talent.

So NEET will definitely promote merit (as only NEET qualifiers are allowed) and it will make the prices more affordable for students.

Concluding slide next … solution ? !

If u have read with utmost understanding till now …

Then whom is to be blamed for all this situation ?

Can there ever be a marriage between SINGLE WINDOW NEET EXAM and Pg exams / seats ?

One point is clear … we can’t blame the students, whether management or entrance aspirants.

Both are just trying to find a way and survive this mad race and fighting of career.

Number of students are in Millions & millions and seats are just in thousands.

Its Demand and Demand and No Supply !

It’s the survival and there is no feeling that is more powerful than the urge to survive. Students are no more students. They are like gladiators where the winner survives.

So who should be responsible ?

Higher education is a matter of national development and the right of all the students. Govt from long back should have taken care of proper distribution and regulation of seats and funds between all colleges ( govt n private) . Some times it’s just a case of acting too late & expecting that the system will be changed overnight.

NEET/SINGLE WINDOW EXAMS for all govt & Private BDS,MBBS &  MDS, MS seats

is an attempt by the govt. to control the things , but it’s a very late approach.

Frankly speaking right now govt is not in a position to apply NEET/SINGLE WINDOW GOVT EXAMS forcefully , as the situation is no more simple. Many colleges all over India are now involved in the system & govt. won’t find it easy to simply force the NEET at this point of time .

And all this just adds to the tension of already tensed students. In fact students are no more students … They are now similar to gladiators  fighting for their life & survival.

All these confusion could have been avoided by the govt. if proper thinking was given to it long time back.

Next Slide 

Finally Supreme Court Puts up a Strong Stance and NEET is now Mandatory for all Private colleges from 2016. No private college can conduct their own exams. Students will have to qualify the NEET exam and colleges are bound to select candidates from among the Qualified Students.

See Next Slide

All Points to Know about NEET 2016

A lot of news has been circulating in the media for last 3 months on NEET and its implications. There was also added confusion as it was not getting clear as to what is going to be the final decision. But now the dust has settled and a much more clearer picture emerges. Here are the status quo currently :

1. The Education Secretary and Chairman of Centralised Admission Committee (CENTAC), G. Ragesh Chandra, on Thursday (May 26, 2016) said NEET is must for admission to management quota seats in private medical colleges.

   “All candidates desiring to obtain seats in private medical colleges other than government quota seats should prepare themselves properly and write the NEET phase-II examination if they have not taken the phase-I ,” Mr. Chandra said in a press note. 

   Govt. Quota

    However, he pointed out that the Centre had postponed NEET for 2016-17 for admission to MBBS and BDS seats in government colleges and ‘government quota’ seats in private medical colleges through an ordinance. Therefore, admission to those category seats would be conducted through procedure already notified by CENTAC. Candidates desiring to apply for MBBS and BDS may now apply online for the above seats as per procedure from May 30 and online application will close on June 10.
2. Medical and dental college aspirants must know that after the government has decided that seats in state government medical colleges and government seats in private medical colleges would not be allotted on the basis of the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) for this year.

3. From next year (2017), NEET will apply universally.

4. Tamil Nadu and Puducherry admit students to medical and dental colleges on the basis of marks obtained in Class XII. The two states will follow the same process this year and shift to NEET next year.
5. Five states have already conducted their medical entrance tests: Gujarat, Karnataka, Tripura, Maharashtra and Kerala. “They are not likely to implement NEET this year.
6. Seven states have already communicated that they will accept the NEET score from this year itself: Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Rajasthan, Chandigarh and Odisha. The rest of the states will take a call.
7. The ordinance will ensure that students who have already appeared for tests conducted by the states will not have to re-appear for NEET.

8. Some of the seats in private colleges are so-called state government seats and the admission is usually on the basis of tests conducted by the state government or (in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry) Class XII marks. This will be the practice this year as well. (See Point 4)

9. Other seats in these private colleges are alloted transparently (which means on the basis of some test), under the management quota or the non-resident Indian quota. The tuition fee for these seats is much higher. These seats will be filled on the basis of NEET instead of any other test. (See Point 1)

10. A NEET for post-graduate courses will take place in December as scheduled. However, in the case of private colleges, some students who have appeared for tests conducted by the states may have to reappear for NEET. It is now know that from the next academic year NEET will be the only exam to qualify for PG seats, which will effectively make all other independent Entrance Exams for PG seats null & void. So from Next season – only way to get a PG seat – Qualify NEET.

    Official NEET Website

    NATIONAL ELIGIBILITY CUM ENTRANCE TEST – NEET (UG), 2016

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This analysis was 1st done in the year 2013 when NEET was announced and then subsequently was stayed.

Update May 2016, Supreme court has passed the judgement of conducting NEET for admission to BDS & MBBS seats and all private colleges are bound to follow it. From next year the PG seats in health sciences will also come under NEET. Any ordinance to counter NEET has not been entertained. So the status right now is that the students will have to qualify NEET by scoring the adequate percentile otherwise they won’t be eligible to get admission in to colleges.

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