Nearly 16 lakh students write NEET

Nearly 16 lakh students wrote the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) on Sunday, attempting to secure admission to undergraduate medical and dental programmes across the country  The examination was held at quite 3,800 centres in 202 cities in India and abroad, with COVID-19 safety protocols in situ to stop infection. At several centres, separate rooms were provided for college kids who tested positive.

The National Testing Agency conducted the examination during a single offline session, using pen-and-paper mode, with papers available in 13 languages In Tamil Nadu , quite 1.10 lakh students had registered themselves for the test, which was conducted at 224 centres.

Sources within the School Department of Education said nearly 7,000 students took the test in Tamil. The COVID-19 protocol was followed strictly. at the most centres, parents weren’t allowed near the doorway and candidates underwent temperature checks, besides the mandatory security checks. that they had to compulsorily wear masks for the complete duration of the test. Candidates began assembling as early as 10 a.m. for the test which began at 2 p.m.

Coimbatore recorded 95.35% attendance at the eight test centres, including one in Tiruppur district. The seven centres in Tiruppur district recorded 97.06% attendance. In Salem, NEET was held at 28 centres and arrangements were made for about 15,067 students to require it. In Tiruchi, the test was held at 21 centres. Of the 9,105 candidates, only 8,753 took the three-hour test. The district reported 96.1% attendance. consistent with a politician , around 18,000 candidates had registered themselves in Chennai and around 800 were absent.

As within the past, many candidates found the physics component tough, chemistry moderate and biology easy. Most first-time test-takers found physics challenging S. Swetha, a CBSE student and first-time test-taker, said, “The questions were indirect and that we spent tons of your time thereon part alone. Biology and chemistry were easier and preparing with the NCERT textbooks helped,” she said.

Several State board students said they used the NCERT textbooks, besides their own textbooks and training classes. S. Sathvika prepared on her own and trusted the NCERT books, which helped especially in biology A group of women from the govt Higher lyceum at Red Hills came with their parents to a centre at Kelly’s. The girls, who took the test in Tamil, visited the centre around 11 a.m., said Sujatha Kumaravel, a parent. Last year, the varsity trained 60 students, but none got admission, said Elangovan, whose daughter Kanimozhi said she found biology easy. the varsity began online classes in July.

K. Bhavani, a parent, said the varsity advised the scholars to shop for the specified books, which they did from Tiruvallur. the scholars started preparing in earnest only within the previous couple of weeks due to the uncertainty about NEET scores getting used for admission within the State.

Preparations go browsing

With schools and training centres being shut for an outsized a part of the 2020-21 school year , the majority of the preparations happened online. it had been hard for S. Ashima to adapt herself to online coaching and handle the added stress of uncertainty over the conduct of the board examinations. M. Pavithra, a government school student, said she had attended free online coaching through her school during the pandemic. “Students who studied well and were curious about taking over the exam were selected and that they could attend these coaching classes online,” she said.

For the primary time, NEET had an additional 20 questions, additionally to the 180, in order that students had some choice unlike within the previous years. the entire marks would be out of 720. The concession was on account of the pandemic and therefore the reduced syllabus Balaji Sampath, founder, Aha Guru, who coaches students for NEET, said that at some centres, students weren’t allowed to figure out sums beside the questions. it might help if students were provided rough papers.