Indian students in a fix as NEET drops Oman centre

Muscat: Parents of Indian school students, led by Kairali Oman community, submitted a memorandum to Indian Ambassador to Oman, Amit Narang, complaining about dropping the NEET exam centre in Oman and other GCC countries.

The NEET centre at the Indian School Muscat was started in 2022 after continuous requests and representations from the parents of Indian Schools students in Oman.

Based on the requests from many of the parents in the previous years, Kairali Oman community had given memorandums to the Parliament members in India, made many representations to them and accordingly Rajya Sabha members Elamanam Kareem and John Brittas had raised the issue in the Indian House.

All such collective efforts resulted in the opening of a NEET centre at the Indian School Muscat.

The parents here in Oman are disappointed to see that the centre, which started as a result of continuous efforts by them with the support of community groups of Indian diaspora across the world, has been discontinued without any reason or discussions.

The recent decision has plunged expatriate parents into financial crisis due to various reasons, with airfares also experiencing a significant surge.

The online registration for NEET has already commenced, and the abrupt discontinuation of examination centres in Gulf countries, including Oman, has instilled a sense of anxiety among students.

A group of parents along with the Kairali Oman community, engaged in discussions with India’s Ambassador to Oman, Amit Narang, demanding the withdrawal of the decision, which poses a grave threat to students’ future, and the immediate restoration of the NEET exam centre in Oman.

Sudhi Padmanabhan, Shaji Sebastian, Manoj Peringeth, Arun V M, and Mithun Mohan led the discussions from the parents side and the ambassador assured them of addressing their concerns.

He promised to convey the matter to the Union Education Ministry and NEET authorities promptly.

In 2021, India first opened international centres for the NEET-UG exams- a prerequisite for all students to study medicine in India and some international countries.

The move came after thousands of students could not travel to appear in the test during the Covid pandemic. It relieved parents who had been petitioning for centres outside India for years.

However, this year, all international centres have been closed down. On the other hand, the number of centres in India has increased.