Delay by WBJEE Board in publishing medical entrance results could jeopardise future of students

The West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations (WBJEE) Board’s decision to publish the result of the medical joint entrance examination on August 27 could jeopardise the entire process of medical admission this year, as the Medical Council of India (MCI) issued a gazette notification saying that all the states must publish their medical entrance examination result within August 17.

The MCI on August 8 had published a gazette notification, saying that all the states and boards must publish their medical entrance examination results within August 17 and it had also issued instructions on how the counselling process should be conducted.

Dibyendu Kar, Registrar of the WBJEE Board said: “According to the gazette notification the students getting admission from national quota seats must be admitted within August 17, but the state quota students are not under the purview of the notification, as far as my understanding is concerned. This gazette notification is only for the NEET students, but there was no instruction for the medical students in the state.”

It may also be mentioned here that the Supreme Court, in an order in 2012, said that all the states and the boards must follow the norms set by the MCI regarding the admission of medical students and if any institution flout the rules the MCI is empowered to take action against them. MCI has the power to derecognise a medical institution if it admits candidates flouting the MCI guidelines.

The matter was brought to the notice of the WBJEE Board when a city-based doctor and an expert in the field had written letters to the Chairman of the board, urging him to consider the matter. But neither the WBJEE Board nor the state health department have taken any steps to publish the result before August 17.

However, now it be would difficult for them to publish the results within the remaining six days. If they publish the result on August 27, as has been announced, the future of the students taking admission in various undergraduate medical and dental courses may be at stake.

Many of the parents and guardians of the medical aspirants in the city apprehend that if the board works at a war footing and publishes the result within time, there is a chance of mistakes in the processes of evaluation of the answer scripts.

Confusion has already been created among the medical aspirants, after the WBJEE Board published a model answer key which was reported to be filled with errors. The model answer key was uploaded so that the candidates who have appeared in the state medical entrance examination can verify their answers. The board has also invited applications from the students if they find any errors in the answer key. However, it did not publish a primary answer key which was demanded by many students. Had the primary answer key been published and the feedback was taken from the students and teachers earlier, the board could have prepared a model answer key free of errors.

“Since the MCI has issued a gazette notification asking all the states to publish the result within August 17, the WBJEE Board ought to now follow the instruction and publish the result within time. Otherwise, the medical aspirants may problems,” an expert said.