Safety protocol finalised for JEE & NEET aspirants

Safety protocol finalised for JEE & NEET aspirants

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:20.08.2020

No frisking, staggered time-slots for reporting and contact-less verification of documents like admit cards will be part of the safety protocol for engineering and medical admission tests — JEE (Main) and NEET — to be held by the National Testing Agency between September 1-13 for nearly 25 lakh aspirants.

Candidates will be required to carry a self-declaration regarding their Covid-free health status on the day of the test and those with body temperature higher than the recommended will be allowed to take the test in isolated rooms.

As per the standard operating procedures finalised by NTA and a copy of which has been accessed by TOI, threetier measures are being put in place — pre-examination, conduct of exam and post exam phases. As part of pre-exam measures, all centres would keep gloves, masks, hand sanitisers, sponges/ cloth, disinfectant liquid with 1% sodium hypochlorite, disinfectant backpack spray machines for sanitising floors and walls, thermo guns and individual water bottles for staff and candidates.

All floors, walls and gates of the exam centre will be sanitised with disinfectants before the exam starts and those on exam duty will wear masks and gloves after staff verification. At the entry, body temperature of the candidates will be recorded and if it is found to be more than 99.4°Fahrenheit, the candidate will be taken to an isolation room. The process of frisking and document verification for such candidates will be done after 15 to 20 minutes. Candidates will be allowed in batches of 15 girls and 15 boys in two different registration rooms. Inside the exam hall, candidates will be allowed to carry face mask, gloves, a personal transparent water bottle, a small hand sanitiser and documents like admit card and identity card.

Full report on www.toi.in

Only 1/3rd of kids adjusting well to e-classes: Survey

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:

Nearly onethird of the students from CBSE-affiliated schools, Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya are adjusting well to online education but an equal number are struggling, while overall 80% are using mobile phones as a learning tool, a survey has revealed.

With the Covid-19 outbreak and subsequent disruption of classroom education since March 16, 2020, around 16% are using laptops and computers besides phones, data collected from students, teachers, school principals and parents on the present teaching-learning scenario by the National Council of Educational Research and Training has revealed.

Overall, the survey revealed about 60-70% of all stake holder participants reported being “very satisfied or satisfied”. About 20-30% stakeholders shared they had a difficult experience and about 10-20% said it was burdensome. Less number of teachers (16%) are finding online teaching difficult as compared to 32.6% of students.

The two major contributors for students who found the online learning “joyful” or very satisfactory is convenience (46.8%) and teachers having planned interesting activities (46.4%) in response to separate queries. As per NCERT’s report, the major hindrance has been poor internet connectivity and difficulty in sharing and use of contents for online classes through mobile phones. The survey was conducted among 34,598 students, parents, teachers and school principals across the country.

Full report on www.toi.in