Experts urge parents not to burden their children with unrealistic expectations

Experts urge parents not to burden their children with unrealistic expectations

Sukshma.R@timesgroup.com

Madurai:

With four NEET aspirants committing suicide in the last one week in the state, counsellors and experts urge parents to understand the need for psychological support towards their wards, especially as the students will be even more anxious before the declaration of the results.

“There is no single factor when it comes to a student taking the extreme step. However, unrealistic expectations always play a role, be it from the parents or the students themselves. In such cases, it means the person is not ready to accept who he/she is,” said Arthi Sujai, a psychologist from Madurai. She also added that often suicides are the result of ideation over a long time, which can be suddenly triggered.

Aravindan Ganesan, psychiatric counsellor, Athma Hospital in Trichy, said parents should not impose their expectations on their children. They should not say anything that may emotionally hurt them. He said parents should not avoid small warning signs that the children tend to show. Children may often isolate themselves and stop conversing with family members, which can be a red flag, he said.

“Parents need to be with their children during such times and avoid comparing them with their relative’s children. Teachers can guide them with alterative career opportunities. For instance, chemists are as significant as doctors in western countries,” said Aravindan.

“Career counselling helps both students and parents take a step back and figure out what they really want. Since we are able to quantify the abilities of the child and give suggestions for careers, both parents and children are more likely to accept the choices,” said Arthi, who is also a career counsellor.

Mental health experts said that the Covid-19 pandemic can also add to the stress for students and parents this year. “The Covid-19 pandemic definitely has had an impact on students preparing for NEET. They could only prepare by online means, which is more stressful than in a classroom environment,” said Dr N Suresh Kumar, clinical psychologist and secretary, Tamil Nadu Association of Clinical Psychologists (TNACP), which has a dedicated helpline for the Covid-19 pandemic.

Six former High Court judges come to actor Suriya’s defence

Six former High Court judges come to actor Suriya’s defence

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:15.09.2020

A day after Justice S M Subramaniam of the Madras high court sought to initiate contempt of court action against actor Suriya for his alleged comment on the Supreme Court’s order allowing NEET exams during the Covid-19 pandemic, six former judges of the court have jumped to the actor’s defence.

Retired Madras high court judges Justice K Chandru, Justice K N Basha, Justice T Sudanthiram, Justice D Hariparanthaman, Justice K Kannan and Justice G M Akbar Ali have addressed a communication to the Chief Justice A P Sahi to leave the issue as it is and not to initiate any action against the actor.

“In today’s newspaper, we saw a news item informing that Justice Subramaniam has written a letter to you drawing your attention to a press statement of actor Suriya protesting against the conduct of NEET.”

“We are afraid that considering such a statement as contempt of court would be slightly off the mark and it did not require any action as requested by the judge. Where four students have committed suicide unable to meet the NEET requirement and in a surcharged atmosphere, an artistic person’s overreaction should not be taken seriously and out of context,” they said.

“If the letter is read in its totality and considering the good work done by him through his charitable trust which had helped hundreds of poor students to complete their higher education and get placements, we should show generosity and magnanimity in leaving the matter without any cognizance,” they added.

Noting that being former judges, they are concerned about the prestige and honour of the court, the six judges said, “We earnestly make this appeal not to take cognizance of the complaint and leave the matter as it is. It is our duty to make this appeal to your good selves so that the court is rid of any unnecessary controversies.”

The bar was also divided on the issue. While the Tamil Nadu advocates association (TNAA) condemned the statement made by the actor, 25 advocates led by veteran lawyer NGR Prasad said that every criticism of judiciary cannot be seen as contemptuous.

Political parties, media must stop glorifying NEET suicides: Court

Political parties, media must stop glorifying NEET suicides: Court

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai: 15.09.2020

Two days after three TN students committed suicide fearing National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the national admission exam for undergraduate medical courses, the Madras high court on Monday observed that media and political parties in the state must stop glorifying NEET suicides.

“If they stop such ‘nonsense’ and stop giving solatium to victims’ families such a trend would decrease,” the court said.

A division bench headed by Justice N Kirubakaran made the observation when advocate A P Suryaprakasam made an urgent mention before the court demanding the court to initiate suo motu contempt proceeding against the Tamil Nadu government for failing to prevent such suicides.

“In 2018, the court directed the state government to take appropriate steps to prevent NEET-related suicides. But the state has failed to implement the order in letter and spirit which led to four more suicides this year,” Suryaprakasam said.

Six ex-judges of HC to Suriya’s defence

A day after Justice S M Subramaniam, a sitting judge of the Madras HC, sent a letter to Chief Justice AP Sahi seeking contempt of court proceedings against actor Suriya for his remark against the Supreme Court order permitting NEET exams during the pandemic, six former judges led by Justice K Chandru made an appeal to the CJ to not initiate any action against the actor. “We are afraid that considering such a statement as contempt of court would be slightly off the mark... an artistic person’s overreaction should not be taken seriously and out of context,” they said. P 5

Not publicising suicides may help reduce them: HC

Responding to the plea, Justice Kirubakaran said the court could only blame media and political parties for glorifying such suicides. “They line up before the victim’s family to give solatium. This suggests that whoever commits such suicide would get money,” he said. “If this is stopped by the media and political parties and no publicity is given for such incidents, it might reduce,” the judge added.

The judge then said the bench could not take suo motu contempt as the 2018 order was passed in a single sitting. Justice Kirubakaran suggested the advocate file a contempt petition if needed.

HC refuses to stop work on Ooty medical college

HC refuses to stop work on Ooty medical college

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  15.09.2020

The Madras high court on Monday refused to stay construction of a medical college hospital in Ooty over alleged environmental violations. The court, however, restrained the state from felling trees in the 300-acre land allotted for the hospital till further order.

A division bench of Justice M M Sundresh and Justice R Hemalatha also directed the state to ascertain whether the existing buildings of Hindustan Photo Films Manufacturing Company Limited in the said land can be used for hostel and other purposes instead of constructing new buildings.

The court passed the interim order on a PIL moved by advocate V Ramesh seeking direction to the state to utilise the land and buildings leased and owned by Hindustan Photo Films for establishing the government medical college hospital. Refusing to pass any positive order, the bench said the entire construction cannot be stalled as a hospital would require special building.

Representing the state, advocate-general Vijay Narayan submitted that the government medical college hospital was a long pending demand of Ooty residents and cannot be stalled. “Population is high in Ooty unlike Kodaikanal. Residents of the area have to travel to Coimbatore for medical emergencies,” he said.

To this, Ramesh said he is totally not against construction of a hospital for the area. “The land allotted for the project has been earmarked as grass land classification, which is the heart beat of Nilgiris biosphere. Establishing a college and hospital in the area would result in conversion of grass land to concrete jungle,” he added.

Kolkata beats odds, clocks 85% in NEET

Kolkata beats odds, clocks 85% in NEET

Anxiety At Exam Venues As Tense Students Wait For Entry

Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey & Tamaghna Banerjee TNN

Kolkata:14.09.2020

In a sharp contrast to JEE (Main), over 85% candidates appeared for their NEET (UG) 2020 examinations in Kolkata on Sunday. A little over 47% candidates had taken their JEE (Main) examinations. The high attendance, however, was overshadowed by anxiety, first to reach the exam centres on time and then to be admitted inside the halls.

Asked to report three hours before the start of exam and allowed entry over multiple time slots, several students, who were standing in queue in the heat, complained of feeling sick. Many even reported high temperatures when screened under a thermal gun at the time of entry. While at some centres guards allowed minor sways in the recorded temperature, at Haryana Vidyamandir in Salt Lake, where 400-plus examinees were writing the exam, none with temperature above 98.4 degrees Fahrenheit were allowed entry. The students were asked to stand under a shade — under a tree or some other canopy for sometime — and were checked again. They were allowed only after the temperature receded below 98.4.

“Just as I was about to enter the venue, the guard asked me to stand on a side saying I had high temperature. I was made to stand under a shade for 10 minutes following which I was checked again but the temperature was still high. After the third attempt, the temperature finally receded and they allowed me to enter,” said Amrita Chakraborty, an examinee from Kanchrapara.

At Adamas University, five candidates came with court orders to allow them to sit in separate rooms for the exam and not in the exam hall with other candidates. “We honoured the court order and made separate arrangements for them,” said Ujjwal Choudhury, pro vice chancellor. Out of the 380-odd candidates, 350 wrote the test at this centre.

Though isolation units for those with temperatures higher than 99.4 degrees were kept, these did not have to be used till last reports came in. At some bigger centres like DPS Ruby Park, 717 candidates wrote the test out of 840. At Birla High School for Boys, 350 wrote the exam out of 420.

NTA teams and observers were present at each centre. An underlayer Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheet was given so that the second copy can be kept with NTA. The original copy will go for marking. Right from 11am, when the candidates started walking in, till the last candidate left the hall, the entire duration was videographed and submitted to NTA.

The lifting of the Saturday lockdown and efforts by transport department, along with Metro services, helped candidates reach centers on time. On their way back, though, students and parents complained of app-cab surge price. Demand peaked at the end of exam, causing a demand-supply gap, said Indranil Banerjee, secretary of Online Cab Operators’ Guild.

Tales of examinees’ courage behind NEET ‘success’ story

Tales of examinees’ courage behind NEET ‘success’ story

Tamaghna Banerjee & Mayukh Sengupta

14.09.2020

A girl from Murshidabad spent the better part of Saturday night on a Salt Lake road after travelling 200km from home; a boy from Malda came to Kolkata three days early to beat lockdown; a boy from Behrampore fell unconscious at the centre after an arduous journey, and wrote the exam from a wheelchair; a girl from Nepal stayed 14 days in quarantine at a relative’s home before appearing for the exam in Salt Lake.

They could still take the exam; there were a few who could not, even after trying their best.

As lakhs of aspiring doctors took NEET on Sunday, out poured tales of grit and courage from examinees, who crossed boundaries of district, state and even country — not to mention walls of fear and uncertainty — all in order to take this one exam.

Beldanga resident Noor Jahan Khatun and her father, a bidi worker, had booked a guest house in Salt Lake, hoping to check in on Saturday and reach the exam venue on time. But when they reached Salt Lake on Saturday evening, they were told their booking was not confirmed and asked to leave. Not knowing much of Salt Lake, father and daughter sat on the footpath near tank No.7, preparing to spend the night on the road as the latter started revising under the street lights.

It was sheer luck that a good Samaritan spotted them some hours later, and helped them check into another guest house. “Had it not been for that person, I don’t know whether I would have been mentally fit to take the exam,” said the girl.

With Saturday’s lockdown revoked only on Thursday, many examinees and their parents had already started from their homes in different districts and states on Wednesday to reach the city on Thursday, staying at hotels and guest houses around the exam venues.

85-90% attendance in NEET-UG: NTA

Attendance for the NEETUG on Sunday was between 85% and 90%, the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced, based on random sampling. Those who missed the exams after testing positive for Covid will get another chance to take the test. P 9

Students pay ₹40k to book bus from Malda to city

Sohail Rana, who was appearing for the exam at Apeejay School, Park Street, said: “It was only after we reached the city on Thursday that we came to know that Saturday’s lockdown was revoked. Had we known earlier, we could have saved the money spent on hotel stay. We would have started on Saturday itself.”

Several from faraway districts said they had to face a harrowing time arranging for transport. A group of examinees who were appearing from a venue in Howrah, said they had to shell out Rs 40,000 to book a bus from Malda to reach the city. “There were around 20 of us who hired the bus. We started early on Saturday and reached on Saturday night. We had to pay Rs 40,000,” said an examinee. Another examinee from Malda, Sneha Das, said she had to pay Rs 13,000 to hire a car to her centre on Park Street.

Behrampore’s Bikram Nandi fell sick during the journey and collapsed upon reaching his Kasba venue. But he managed to write the exam from a wheelchair after he was medically cleared. “He didn’t want to miss the exam after making the effort to reach,” said his father Ranjit Nandi, who works at a private firm.

Queuing up outside the Haryana Vidyamandir exam venue was also Avantika Malik from Nepal, who came out of her 14-day home quarantine only on Friday. “We had started from Kathmandu on August 28 morning in a car with Covid-negative certificates and took a train from New Jalpaiguri the same night to reach Kolkata on August 29. Since then we were in home quarantine at a relative’s house on Zakaria Street,” said Malik, who was accompanied by her father.

But, for some students like Darbhanga resident Santosh Kr Yadav, the 600km distance proved too much to cover as he missed the exam by a mere 15 minutes. Yadav had boarded a bus from his hometown at 8am but was stuck between Muzaffarpur and Patna for close to 10 hours because of a traffic disruption, and could only reach Sealdah at1pm.

(With inputs from Amit Moulick)

Smooth & safe NEET, papers easy: Med aspirants; cut-offs likely to rise

Smooth & safe NEET, papers easy: Med aspirants; cut-offs likely to rise

Yogita.Rao@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:14.09.2020

A relatively easy question paper, coupled with the smooth conduct of exams by the National Testing Agency (NTA), brought relief to most medical aspirants taking the NEET on Sunday.

Students who commuted by local trains to their exam centres did not face any hurdles, said Sudha Shenoy, a parent representative. They had to show their admit cards before entering stations and being a Sunday, they weren’t crowded.

Teachers are predicting a rise in cut-offs—by 10-15 marks —across institutes. From Maharashtra, close to 2.3 lakh aspirants had registered for the test this year. Most centres followed social distancing norms and the exam was well managed, but some places did see parents overcrowding outside the gates.

Tanvi Kulkarni, a student, said the paper was entirely from the NCERT domain and easy compared to the previous years. Anurag Tiwari, national academic director at a coaching institute, said that one question in physical chemistry possibly had two solutions, and it has to be seen which answer will be accepted by the NTA. Most questions were straightforward and easy to comprehend, he added. A few aspirants found the chemistry and biology section to be of moderately difficult level.

Keyur Cholera, from a coaching institute, said the cutoffs for open category students in Mumbai colleges are likely to go above 600—the paper carries 720 marks. While last year, too, the cut-offs were around 600, there were 26% seats in the open category. This year, with the interim stay on Maratha quota, 38% seats are unreserved.

At exam centres, thermal scanners, sanitisers and staff in PPE suits welcomed NEET aspirants. Most centres were well managed and the NTA had made proper arrangements, with no major negative reports, said Ruiee Kapoor, a parent representative. The reporting time was between 11am and 1.30pm for the exam that began at 2pm.

At SIWS College in Wadala, students got question papers 20-30 minutes late in two different blocks. “We were unable to open the digital lock on the trunk...NTA asked us to break it open. We lost a few minutes but students were given extra time,” said vice-principal Vaibhav Banjan. Around 1,200 aspirants took the NEET from this centre.

Nationally, over 15 lakh students had registered for the test. Despite the pandemic, exam attendance was 85-90% based on random sampling, said an official. Last year, it was 92.9%.

Candidates get screened outside a NEET exam centre on Sunday

Univs to hold online final-yr exams: Min

Higher and technical education minister Uday Samant, in a live interaction with students on social media, said state universities have taken a decision to conduct final-year exams in an online mode, in the multiple-choice questions format, after consulting their academic bodies. He said the state adhered by the SC directive and has decided on the exam format based on UGC regulations. TNN