4,000 more to take NEET this year

4,000 more to take NEET this year

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: 08.09.2020

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam to be held on September 13 will see participation from at least 80,000 candidates from Gujarat. This year higher number of students have registered amid the rising number of Covid-19 cases.

In 2019, about 76,000 students had taken NEET exams. The NEET score is taken into account for candidates seeking admission in medical colleges across the country.

The district collectors have been asked to follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) laid down by the Centre for conducting these exams. Every student will be checked using a thermal gun at the time of entry to the examination centre and every exam centre will be completely sanitized before and after the test. District authorities have been instructed to avoid crowding at test centres and to implement social distancing during the test.

There are at present about 5,400 medical seats, 1,200 dental seats, 3,600 in ayurveda programme and about 3,300 in homeopathy course in Gujarat. It has been quite some time now that a proposal for setting up a brownfield medical college is pending. It is unlikely that any new medical college proposal will be cleared this year, said sources.

The deadline for inspection of medical colleges ends in October. The Medical Council of India cannot approve any new colleges after the inspection period as it will be too late, said sources. Registration and formal admission process is expected to be carried out by the admission committee next month.

The lockdown gave an opportunity for candidates as they could take more time in preparation for the test. Many students had also started taking online coaching classes during the lockdown period.