Medical entrance exam excludes 'NG' graders

Kathmandu, August 8: Students who got 'NG' (Non Graded) in their Class 12 examinations will be excluded from the integrated entrance examination organized by the Medical Education Commission. This affects students who applied for the entrance exam before their Class 12 results were announced and received an 'NG' grade.

The Commission is set to conduct the entrance exam starting August 17. However, the Commission has stated that students who received 'NG' in their Class 12 results will not be permitted to take the exam. A notification issued on June 10 last year invited applications for the integrated entrance examination, which saw over 51,700 students submit their forms.

Following the National Examination Board’s announcement of the Class 12 results on August 2, students with 'NG' grades have found themselves in a difficult situation. They will be unable to participate in the Commission’s exam, and it appears that the application fees they paid will also be forfeited.

Of the Class 12 students, 127,000 received 'NG' in two subjects. The Board has informed that 17,000 students applied for re-evaluation within three days of the application period for re-totaling. These students are concerned they will be barred from the exam if re-evaluation results are not available in time. They are worried about losing their fees due to the Commission's policies, which specified that application fees would not be refunded.

Students are anxious that the Commission’s entrance exam will proceed without the results of re-evaluations. “We have applied for re-evaluation. The integrated entrance exam starts on August 17, and there is a fear that the re-evaluation results will not be available before then,” said a student who applied for the entrance exam.

The Commission has emphasized that students must have at least a 2.40 GPA and pass their Class 12 exams to qualify for the entrance exam. Students with 'NG' grades are not eligible to participate.

Krishna Kapri, Member-Secretary of the Commission, acknowledged that the situation is a learning experience. “Since some students applied for re-totaling of their marks, we discussed the matter with the Board. This is a first-time issue for us. We had called for applications before the results were available, and now there are problems for students who are reapplying,” he said.

Krishna Sharma, the Board’s Class 12 Exam Controller, expressed concern that the Commission's decision to call for applications before final results was flawed. “It is wrong for the Commission to invite applications without having the results. Better coordination with us would have been beneficial. It is not necessary for us to expedite results now,” Sharma said.

The Board has scheduled the grade enhancement exams for September 10 and 11, with the deadline for re-evaluation applications set for August 17, the same day as the Commission’s exam. Sharma indicated that there will be discussions with the Commission regarding how to handle 'NG' cases in Biology.

The Board has stated that re-evaluation results will not be available before August 17 and that publishing results of 'NG' grades will take at least a month. Despite this, the Commission is proceeding with the application process and examination without coordinating with the Board, leading to frustration among Board officials.

Decision on refund of application fee 'later'

Regarding the application fees, the Commission had previously stated that fees would not be refunded. However, Member-Secretary Kapri noted that the Commission will consider how to address the situation for students who cannot take the exam due to 'NG' grades. “We have not yet decided on fee refunds for students who could not sit for the exam because of 'NG'. We will study the situation and may decide to refund the fees later,” Kapri said.

“This is a first lesson for us as well. We have advised the Board not to prioritize applications from those who have applied for re-evaluation,” Kapri added.