For 1,500-odd aspirants, ordeal just begins as they embark on journey
Swetha Arumugam*, a student from Tirunelveli, who aspires to crack NEET, will go on a 12-hour bus journey to Ernakulam first and then a one-hour journey by auto, to write her test on Sunday.
Published: 05th May 2018 05:12 AM | Last Updated: 05th May 2018 07:11 AM
By Sushmitha Ramakrishnan
Express News Service
CHENNAI: Swetha Arumugam*, a student from Tirunelveli, who aspires to crack NEET, will go on a 12-hour bus journey to Ernakulam first and then a one-hour journey by auto, to write her test on Sunday. She is among hundreds of students from Tamil Nadu, who have been allotted test centres in another State.
Over 1.1 lakh students from Tamil Nadu will be writing NEET on Sunday.
Students board a train in
Tiruchy on Friday, to write
their exam | Express
And as a result of the Supreme Court’s last-minute stay on the Madras High Court’s directive to set up extra NEET exam centres in the State, over 1,000 students from the State will have to take at least an overnight journey to write their test.
“The CBSE could not allocate centres for roughly around 1,500 students within the State,” a senior CBSE official from the State told Express.
Even as the State government promised on Friday to subsidise students’ travel to exam centres outside State with `1,000, students will not receive their funds until after the exam. While a majority of the students travelling outside Tamil Nadu to take the exam have been allotted centres in Kerala and Karnataka, at least a few hundreds will have to travel as far as Rajasthan and Sikkim.
School Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan, on more than one occasion, defended that only students from private and CBSE school were allotted centres outside the State. However, sources in the School Education department confirmed that at least 98 students from government schools were allotted exam centres outside the State.
Priya Shyam*, another NEET aspirant from a government school in Thoothukudi, will be travelling to Ernakulam with her father on Saturday. While at least five of her schoolmates will be writing their exams in her centre, her father refused to send his daughter alone with other students. “Not only for her safety, I’m also going there to provide her moral support,” said Shyam Vel,* her father.
While students are irked over the CBSE officials’ inability to arrange enough exam centres within the State, NEET director Sanyam Bharadwaj said that members of the board tried their best to accommodate all students within the State. “Around 80,000 students appeared for NEET last year. Over 30,000 more students applied this year. While we could allot centres for 1,10,000 students within the State, we weren’t able to do so for the rest,” he explained, adding that the number of centres would be increased next year.
It is unclear if students writing tests in other states will get a Tamil question paper. Commenting on this, he said that students appearing in other States would take the exam in English. He argued that NEET centres needed specific facilities which could not be made available in Tamil Nadu on short notice. He claimed that students who were allotted centres in Delhi or far-off places chose those centres of their own accord. However, a student writing her exam in Jaipur said that she, like a few of her friends, gave those centres as their last preferences.
Inadequacy of number of NEET centres in Tamil Nadu has spurred a controversy among opposition parties. In response, the State has promised to operate two buses in the morning to help students from Tirunelveli reach Ernakulam. “This additional bus service will continue till 6th — Govt Quick Transport Corporation,” Sengottaiyan tweeted.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami also announced on Friday that the government would reimburse up to `1,000 for second-class train tickets (or equivalent for bus) for students and parents who are travelling to other states. The money can be obtained from their school principals as an advance. “If there is any difficulty, I would like to inform you that you can contact the District Chief Education Officer or call the School Education Department helpline 14417,” he tweeted. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan ordered all police and district heads to make arrangements for students coming from faraway places for NEET. Help centres to be installed at bus stand and railway stations.
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Swetha Arumugam*, a student from Tirunelveli, who aspires to crack NEET, will go on a 12-hour bus journey to Ernakulam first and then a one-hour journey by auto, to write her test on Sunday.
Published: 05th May 2018 05:12 AM | Last Updated: 05th May 2018 07:11 AM
By Sushmitha Ramakrishnan
Express News Service
CHENNAI: Swetha Arumugam*, a student from Tirunelveli, who aspires to crack NEET, will go on a 12-hour bus journey to Ernakulam first and then a one-hour journey by auto, to write her test on Sunday. She is among hundreds of students from Tamil Nadu, who have been allotted test centres in another State.
Over 1.1 lakh students from Tamil Nadu will be writing NEET on Sunday.
Students board a train inTiruchy on Friday, to write
their exam | Express
And as a result of the Supreme Court’s last-minute stay on the Madras High Court’s directive to set up extra NEET exam centres in the State, over 1,000 students from the State will have to take at least an overnight journey to write their test.
“The CBSE could not allocate centres for roughly around 1,500 students within the State,” a senior CBSE official from the State told Express.
Even as the State government promised on Friday to subsidise students’ travel to exam centres outside State with `1,000, students will not receive their funds until after the exam. While a majority of the students travelling outside Tamil Nadu to take the exam have been allotted centres in Kerala and Karnataka, at least a few hundreds will have to travel as far as Rajasthan and Sikkim.
School Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan, on more than one occasion, defended that only students from private and CBSE school were allotted centres outside the State. However, sources in the School Education department confirmed that at least 98 students from government schools were allotted exam centres outside the State.
Priya Shyam*, another NEET aspirant from a government school in Thoothukudi, will be travelling to Ernakulam with her father on Saturday. While at least five of her schoolmates will be writing their exams in her centre, her father refused to send his daughter alone with other students. “Not only for her safety, I’m also going there to provide her moral support,” said Shyam Vel,* her father.
While students are irked over the CBSE officials’ inability to arrange enough exam centres within the State, NEET director Sanyam Bharadwaj said that members of the board tried their best to accommodate all students within the State. “Around 80,000 students appeared for NEET last year. Over 30,000 more students applied this year. While we could allot centres for 1,10,000 students within the State, we weren’t able to do so for the rest,” he explained, adding that the number of centres would be increased next year. It is unclear if students writing tests in other states will get a Tamil question paper. Commenting on this, he said that students appearing in other States would take the exam in English. He argued that NEET centres needed specific facilities which could not be made available in Tamil Nadu on short notice. He claimed that students who were allotted centres in Delhi or far-off places chose those centres of their own accord. However, a student writing her exam in Jaipur said that she, like a few of her friends, gave those centres as their last preferences.
Inadequacy of number of NEET centres in Tamil Nadu has spurred a controversy among opposition parties. In response, the State has promised to operate two buses in the morning to help students from Tirunelveli reach Ernakulam. “This additional bus service will continue till 6th — Govt Quick Transport Corporation,” Sengottaiyan tweeted.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami also announced on Friday that the government would reimburse up to `1,000 for second-class train tickets (or equivalent for bus) for students and parents who are travelling to other states. The money can be obtained from their school principals as an advance. “If there is any difficulty, I would like to inform you that you can contact the District Chief Education Officer or call the School Education Department helpline 14417,” he tweeted. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan ordered all police and district heads to make arrangements for students coming from faraway places for NEET. Help centres to be installed at bus stand and railway stations.
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