New Delhi: Congress MP Mannickam Tagore on Thursday demanded a comprehensive review of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), alleging that the medical entrance exam has commercialised education, favoured the affluent, and undermined government schools.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, the Virudhunagar (Tamil Nadu) MP referred to a report by a central committee set up by the Ministry of Education, which highlighted structural lapses in the country's coaching ecosystem. The panel noted that preparations for exams like NEET, JEE and CUET begin as early as Class XI and recommended limiting coaching hours to two to three hours, holding exams twice a year, and introducing hybrid assessments based on board exams.

Tagore criticised the current system as a “flawed policy” focused on single-stakes exams benefiting the rich, coaching institutes, and dummy schools. “Government school children, rural students, first-generation learners, and students from SC, ST and OBC communities are being pushed out, not due to lack of talent but because they cannot afford expensive coaching,” he said.

He added that the committee report highlighted syllabus gaps, weak formative assessments, inadequate teacher support, and the proliferation of dummy schools, all of which disadvantage meritorious students.

Tagore urged the government to examine NEET's impact on equity, strengthen school education, and take urgent steps to curb the coaching industry's influence.

Separately, Sangli MP Vishaldada Prakashbabu Patil raised concerns over student welfare, citing the suicide of a St Columba's school student allegedly due to teacher harassment, and called for swift action against perpetrators.

Earlier this year, the Education Ministry had formed a nine-member panel to review coaching, dummy schools, and entrance exam effectiveness.