Smooth & safe NEET, papers easy: Med aspirants; cut-offs likely to rise

Smooth & safe NEET, papers easy: Med aspirants; cut-offs likely to rise

Yogita.Rao@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:14.09.2020

A relatively easy question paper, coupled with the smooth conduct of exams by the National Testing Agency (NTA), brought relief to most medical aspirants taking the NEET on Sunday.

Students who commuted by local trains to their exam centres did not face any hurdles, said Sudha Shenoy, a parent representative. They had to show their admit cards before entering stations and being a Sunday, they weren’t crowded.

Teachers are predicting a rise in cut-offs—by 10-15 marks —across institutes. From Maharashtra, close to 2.3 lakh aspirants had registered for the test this year. Most centres followed social distancing norms and the exam was well managed, but some places did see parents overcrowding outside the gates.

Tanvi Kulkarni, a student, said the paper was entirely from the NCERT domain and easy compared to the previous years. Anurag Tiwari, national academic director at a coaching institute, said that one question in physical chemistry possibly had two solutions, and it has to be seen which answer will be accepted by the NTA. Most questions were straightforward and easy to comprehend, he added. A few aspirants found the chemistry and biology section to be of moderately difficult level.

Keyur Cholera, from a coaching institute, said the cutoffs for open category students in Mumbai colleges are likely to go above 600—the paper carries 720 marks. While last year, too, the cut-offs were around 600, there were 26% seats in the open category. This year, with the interim stay on Maratha quota, 38% seats are unreserved.

At exam centres, thermal scanners, sanitisers and staff in PPE suits welcomed NEET aspirants. Most centres were well managed and the NTA had made proper arrangements, with no major negative reports, said Ruiee Kapoor, a parent representative. The reporting time was between 11am and 1.30pm for the exam that began at 2pm.

At SIWS College in Wadala, students got question papers 20-30 minutes late in two different blocks. “We were unable to open the digital lock on the trunk...NTA asked us to break it open. We lost a few minutes but students were given extra time,” said vice-principal Vaibhav Banjan. Around 1,200 aspirants took the NEET from this centre.

Nationally, over 15 lakh students had registered for the test. Despite the pandemic, exam attendance was 85-90% based on random sampling, said an official. Last year, it was 92.9%.

Candidates get screened outside a NEET exam centre on Sunday

Univs to hold online final-yr exams: Min

Higher and technical education minister Uday Samant, in a live interaction with students on social media, said state universities have taken a decision to conduct final-year exams in an online mode, in the multiple-choice questions format, after consulting their academic bodies. He said the state adhered by the SC directive and has decided on the exam format based on UGC regulations. TNN