Chennai: Hundreds of students from city colleges, including Loyola College, Presidency College and School of Excellence in Law (SOEL), have boycotted their classes and protested in support of Delhi protesters. They also carried banners against the NEET exam and demanded the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the question paper leak.At Presidency College, more than 100 students belonging to Student Federation of India (SFI) boycotted their classes and raised slogans against NEET. In University of Madras, students conducted a meeting condemning the attack on protesters by Delhi police.Heavy police presence outside Loyola College prevented students from protesting outside the campus. So instead, the students protested against NEET and Delhi police attacks, within the campus itself — a play in the morning, and a rally in the evening, which college authorities did not allow media to cover.Social Workers Association for Staff and Students also organised a lecture on “Reclaiming The Students’ Voice”. State Platform for Common School System general secretary P B Prince Gajendrababu spoke on the importance of knowing the rights guaranteed under the Constitution. He said NEET failed on its two objectives — stopping commercialising medical education and ensuring quality — and said it must be scrapped.Meanwhile, Doctors’ Association for Social Equality and Tamil Nadu Medical Students’ Association announced demonstrations at govt medical colleges across the state on July 28, demanding action over alleged irregularities in entrance examinations.They demanded that the Prime Minister dismiss Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan and hold him responsible for lapses in NEET and CBSE exams. The groups called for medical and dental seats controlled by state govts to be exempted from NEET and the proposed National Exit Test. They also sought the dissolution of the National Testing Agency and creation of a statutory examination body modelled on the UPSC.The associations alleged that privatisation of medical education and high fees left seats vacant in private institutions, and demanded regulation of fees for medical seats, free coaching for disadvantaged students, and interest-free education loans. They also sought higher stipends for interns and postgraduate students, student welfare bodies, and internal complaints committees in govt medical colleges.
