Testing times for NEET candidates, parents
Pon Vasanth B.A. and Sanjana Ganesh
MADURAI, May 07, 2018 00:00 IST
Long journey from far away places, minimum facilities provided at examination centres create difficulties
Sunday started with a bundle of nerves for many as 11,341 students from various districts took National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in 20 centres across Madurai. With 459 students absent, 96.11% of the registered candidates took the test.
Police personnel and Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) officials frisked students at two points prior to their entry into the examination hall. The students were asked to remove jewellery, clips, dupattas and even socks before entering the hall. The girls experienced some discomfort when they were asked to remove duppattas. Some had bought new clothes to comply with the dress code.
Longer sleeves were cut off from a girl student’s kurta top at M.S.S. Wakf Board College, because it went against the CBSE dress code guidelines. The student’s sister said they had arrived from Manamadurai at 6 a.m. Despite reaching the exam centre on time, her sister did not have a proper place to change her kurta. Several parents registered their protest against this move.
G. Jayaprakash, a parent, said the centres should have been equipped with emergency facility such as a changing room. Many students were unaware that they should have brought additional passport size photograph apart from the one affixed on hall ticket. Hence, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Noyes Matriculation Higher Secondary School and some other centres had arranged photographers to shoot pictures. They charged Rs. 100 for 8 copies. Students in Wakf Board College, however, had to travel all the way to Anna bus stand or Goripalayam to the studios.
Parents who travelled long distances to accompany their children, particularly from districts such as Theni, Ramanathapuram, Vellore and Dindigul, said that the travel and lack of proper arrangements left them exhausted. M. Veni from Ramanathapuram said most centres did not provide proper bathroom facilities for girls and seating arrangement for parents. “After catching a bus early in the morning, we directly came to the centre. We did not book any hotel room. Where are we expected to wait for our children? Can’t they provide water or bathrooms at least?” she asked.
N. Kannan, a parent from an interior village in Theni district, said the government should have started bus services very early in the day so that students could make it to the centres on time. “I started my journey to Madurai from my village at 2 a.m. but could arrive in Theni only at 5 a.m. We were lucky to make it on time but some students could not,” he said. The students should have been allotted centres closer home so that they would not experience fatigue during the test, he said.
After the test, some of the the students said the Biology component was easy for both State Board and CBSE students but Physics was difficult. E. Ranjith from Abiramam in Ramanathapuram district said he attended coaching classes arranged by the State government. Though it helped, he could not complete the paper on time, he said.
Sharon, a student from C.S. Ramachary Matriculation School in Tirunagar, Madurai, said the paper was not very difficult but challenging. Several others echoed her opinion.
Pon Vasanth B.A. and Sanjana Ganesh
MADURAI, May 07, 2018 00:00 IST
Long journey from far away places, minimum facilities provided at examination centres create difficulties
Sunday started with a bundle of nerves for many as 11,341 students from various districts took National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in 20 centres across Madurai. With 459 students absent, 96.11% of the registered candidates took the test.
Police personnel and Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) officials frisked students at two points prior to their entry into the examination hall. The students were asked to remove jewellery, clips, dupattas and even socks before entering the hall. The girls experienced some discomfort when they were asked to remove duppattas. Some had bought new clothes to comply with the dress code.
Longer sleeves were cut off from a girl student’s kurta top at M.S.S. Wakf Board College, because it went against the CBSE dress code guidelines. The student’s sister said they had arrived from Manamadurai at 6 a.m. Despite reaching the exam centre on time, her sister did not have a proper place to change her kurta. Several parents registered their protest against this move.
G. Jayaprakash, a parent, said the centres should have been equipped with emergency facility such as a changing room. Many students were unaware that they should have brought additional passport size photograph apart from the one affixed on hall ticket. Hence, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Noyes Matriculation Higher Secondary School and some other centres had arranged photographers to shoot pictures. They charged Rs. 100 for 8 copies. Students in Wakf Board College, however, had to travel all the way to Anna bus stand or Goripalayam to the studios.
Parents who travelled long distances to accompany their children, particularly from districts such as Theni, Ramanathapuram, Vellore and Dindigul, said that the travel and lack of proper arrangements left them exhausted. M. Veni from Ramanathapuram said most centres did not provide proper bathroom facilities for girls and seating arrangement for parents. “After catching a bus early in the morning, we directly came to the centre. We did not book any hotel room. Where are we expected to wait for our children? Can’t they provide water or bathrooms at least?” she asked.
N. Kannan, a parent from an interior village in Theni district, said the government should have started bus services very early in the day so that students could make it to the centres on time. “I started my journey to Madurai from my village at 2 a.m. but could arrive in Theni only at 5 a.m. We were lucky to make it on time but some students could not,” he said. The students should have been allotted centres closer home so that they would not experience fatigue during the test, he said.
After the test, some of the the students said the Biology component was easy for both State Board and CBSE students but Physics was difficult. E. Ranjith from Abiramam in Ramanathapuram district said he attended coaching classes arranged by the State government. Though it helped, he could not complete the paper on time, he said.
Sharon, a student from C.S. Ramachary Matriculation School in Tirunagar, Madurai, said the paper was not very difficult but challenging. Several others echoed her opinion.
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