As per the recent interim order of the Supreme Court of India, candidates aged 25 and above can appear for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or NEET for admissions to undergraduate medical courses for the year 2019.
The National Testing agency responsible for conducting the examination has been directed by the SC to prolong the deadline for the submission of the application forms by a week, so that, the age-barred students can also take the entrance test.
This comes as a huge relief for thousands of students who are hit by the upper age bar of 25 years to appear for NEET. However, their admission to the courses will be based on the final ruling by the Supreme Court which is presently hearing petitions challenging the upper age limit for taking the test fixed at 25 years for general category students.
“In almost all developed countries such as USA, Canada, UK and most of European Union, Australia, etc. there is no upper age limit for studying medicine course if the student is otherwise competent to undertake medicine courses. Therefore, there is no rationale behind the decision as to why a candidate above the age of 25 years is not competent to take medicine courses in India. Similarly, there is no upper age limit for pursuing engineering and law courses and the reputed IITs and NLUs have not provided for any upper-age limit for admission,” the petition said.
