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| More than an exam: How NEET (UG) retests are affecting young minds | | | Dr Vijay Garg
In India, millions of students prepare for one examination with the intensity of a national mission — NEET, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test. For years, this exam has been described as a “gateway to becoming a doctor.” But for many young Indians today, NEET no longer feels like a gateway. It feels like a tunnel with no exit.
And when the exam is cancelled, questioned, leaked, delayed, or repeated through retests, the emotional burden becomes even heavier. The psychological damage caused by uncertainty is often invisible, but it is real. Across India, students are not only preparing for an exam anymore — they are surviving an endless cycle of anxiety, exhaustion, comparison, and fear.
Recent controversies surrounding NEET retests, paper leaks, and administrative failures have triggered anger and emotional distress among students and parents across multiple states.
The Retest Is Not “Just Another Exam”
For policymakers, a retest may appear to be a technical correction. If an exam was compromised, conduct it again. Simple.
But for students, a retest means restarting a mental marathon after they have already crossed the finish line.
A NEET aspirant does not merely “study.” They sacrifice birthdays, friendships, hobbies, sleep, social life, and often their teenage years. Many prepare for two or three years in isolated coaching environments where every mock test determines self-worth.
When the examination ends, students expect relief. Even disappointment feels manageable because at least the uncertainty is over.
But a retest destroys closure.
The brain that had finally relaxed must suddenly return to panic mode. Students reopen books they had emotionally buried days earlier. Sleep schedules collapse again. Families begin discussing ranks and possibilities again. Coaching institutes restart pressure campaigns again.
It becomes psychological whiplash.
Students in several cities expressed grief, anger, and anxiety after NEET-UG retest announcements and uncertainty around examination integrity.
India’s Teenagers Are Living Inside Permanent Performance Pressure
The deeper issue is not only the retest itself. It is the ecosystem around NEET.
Most Indian students preparing for medical entrances enter a system where life becomes hyper-competitive from Class 11 onward. School becomes secondary. Coaching becomes primary. Conversations become numerical:
“How many questions did you solve?” “What was your mock score?” “How many hours did you study?”
Eventually, students stop seeing themselves as people. They begin seeing themselves as ranks.
On online forums, students openly describe feeling “stuck,” “emotionally drained,” and “burned out” after repeated NEET attempts.
One student wrote that drop years destroyed friendships and social life, leaving them isolated and mentally exhausted. Another described feeling trapped in a loop where motivation disappeared after repeated setbacks. These are not rare stories anymore. They are becoming common.
The Fear of Falling Behind
Perhaps the most painful part of a retest is not the extra studying. It is the fear of time slipping away.
In India’s competitive culture, students are constantly told that one year matters enormously. A “drop year” becomes emotionally loaded. Students watch classmates enter colleges while they continue solving mock papers in small rented rooms.
When NEET faces disruption, many students feel their lives are being paused by forces outside their control.
Courts themselves have acknowledged the mental stress caused by retest-related situations. In one case linked to power outages during NEET examinations, judges observed that even brief disruption can damage a student’s composure during a high-stakes paper.
The emotional message students receive is dangerous: “You can work hard for years, and still lose certainty overnight.”
That creates helplessness.
The Silent Mental Health Crisis
India often discusses NEET as an education issue. But it is increasingly becoming a mental health issue.
Students experience:
chronic anxiety,
sleep disorders,
burnout,
panic attacks,
emotional numbness,
fear of disappointing parents,
and identity collapse after poor scores.
Mental health professionals and students online have increasingly spoken about “NEET trauma,” where repeated academic pressure damages self-esteem and emotional stability.
Even high-performing students are struggling. One recent report highlighted a student scoring over 97% in board exams while privately battling burnout and panic linked to competitive exam pressure.
This contradiction defines modern academic culture: Students may appear successful externally while internally feeling exhausted and emotionally fragile.
Parents Are Suffering Too
The psychological toll is not limited to aspirants.
Parents invest enormous emotional and financial energy into NEET preparation. Many middle-class families spend lakhs on coaching institutes, hostel fees, test series, and travel. Entire households reorganize life around one child’s preparation schedule.
When examinations become uncertain, parents also experience panic: “What if another year is wasted?” “What if counselling gets delayed?” “What if my child breaks emotionally?”
Many families feel trapped between supporting their children and unintentionally pressuring them further.
Social Media Makes Everything Worse
Today’s aspirants do not suffer privately. They suffer publicly.
Every score comparison, AIR prediction, leaked-paper discussion, rank analysis, and coaching topper video appears instantly on social media. Students cannot escape the competition even after closing their books.
A retest multiplies this toxicity:
new rumours spread daily,
fake answer keys circulate,
YouTube panic videos explode,
coaching influencers create fear-driven content.
The result is emotional overstimulation.
Students remain mentally “on alert” 24 hours a day.
An Education System Built on Scarcity
Part of the emotional crisis comes from the brutal mathematics of NEET itself.
Millions compete for a limited number of MBBS seats. Students know that years of effort may still not guarantee admission. This scarcity transforms preparation into survival.
Many online discussions now argue that NEET no longer feels like a test of talent but a filtering mechanism built on extreme competition.
In such an environment, even minor uncertainty becomes psychologically explosive.
A retest is not viewed as a small inconvenience. It feels like a threat to years of sacrifice.
“No Exam Is More Important Than Your Life”
Recently, authorities themselves acknowledged the emotional pressure surrounding NEET. Mental health advisories and helplines were highlighted for students facing severe stress and anxiety.
That acknowledgment matters.
Because for too long, Indian society has romanticized suffering in competitive exams. Exhaustion is called dedication. Burnout is called hard work. Isolation is called focus.
But mental collapse should never become a normal side effect of education.
India Must Redefine Success
The larger question is uncomfortable but necessary:
Why are teenagers carrying levels of stress that many adults cannot handle?
An examination should test knowledge — not emotional endurance.
A student failing to secure an MBBS seat is not failing in life. Yet the system often makes young people believe exactly that. Retests deepen this belief because they repeatedly tell students that certainty does not exist.
Idia urgently needs:
stronger mental health support in schools and coaching centres,
less toxic academic comparison,
more career awareness beyond medicine and engineering,
fairer and more transparent examination systems,
and public conversations that separate marks from human worth.
Because the greatest danger is not one cancelled exam.
The greatest danger is a generation slowly believing that their value depends entirely on a rank list.
And no country can build a healthy future by exhausting the minds of its young people before adulthood even begins.
Dr Vijay Garg Retired Principal Educational columnist Eminent Educationist street kour Chand MHR Malout Punjab |
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