Extended curfew leaves NEET, JEE students worried

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:17.04.2020

Students preparing for competitive exams such as NEET or JEE are a worried lot as their schedule has gone for a toss. Though students are undergoing online coaching, many miss their classes where they can interact with their peers and trainers. They had hoped to resume all this after April 14. Now they face nearly three more weeks of solitude.

Siva Prasad S from Kolathur spends more than three hours online every day to prepare for NEET. The coaching institute has given students tabs to take online tests and sends study material and question papers through WhatsApp. His school is also taking biology classes online."Itis not possibleto prepare only through self-study. Regular classes would help us prepare better," he said.

Another NEET aspirant, M S Cyrus, said "The teaching in online classes is good. But, we cannot askquestionsin the middle of class and it takes a lot of time to clarify doubts. Internet connection is not good in some areas," Cyrus said.

Aditya C said his JEE preparations are on track. "We did not expect another lockdown. But, our coaching institute is taking classes through Zoom. Though we are not able to interact, at the moment it is the best available preparation," he said.

B Pavan Kumar, deputy director, FIIT-JEE, Chennai said all coaching institutes engage students online for three to four hours every day. "When we started online coaching, internet connection was a big worry. Now such complaints have come down. Out of 500 students, we received just 20 complaints," he said, adding that JEE (main and advanced) and NEET is likely to be delayed as CBSE is yet to finish Class XII exams.

V Benjamin Franklin, head, school tie-ups in Allen Career Institute, said "The first lockdown period was a learning experience. During the extended lockdown, many will feel more comfortable."

Students who enrolled for crash courses are the most affected as they depend on classroom coaching by experts. Another bunch are students from government schools. There was no online coaching for them during the lockdown.

Nisha Rajendran, a government school student, said she could not access NEET coaching material. "I relying only on Class XI and XII textbooks for NEET preparation," she said.

Some students are also directly affected by the coronavirus scare. T Manmadhan, a governmentschoolstudent and resident of Nerkundram, said "In my area, some people have tested positive. So, there is a fear among the locals and it affects my preparation for NEET. Our class teachers send us notes through PDF format in WhatsApp groups and I call my teachers to clarify doubts and I was hopeful of attending coaching classes after 21 days of lockdown." .

Officials from school education department said they have an alternative plan to coach government school students, which they would implement after the lockdown ends.

Many miss their classes where they can interact with peers and trainers. They had hoped to resume all this after April 14