NEET state ranks not out, candidates in dark

NEET state ranks not out, candidates in dark

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:25.10.2020  

More than a week after NEET 2020 results were released, medical aspirants said they are yet to get information on their state ranks — vital statistics that will help them make smart choices when locking seats during the centralised online counselling by the Directorate General of Health Sciences (DGHS). As per schedule, students will have to start locking their choice of colleges from Tuesday.

The National Testing Agency, which conducted the entrance test, had released students’ scores along with their all-India rank. “Students will be able to use this information for admission in central universities in the counselling conducted by the Medical Counselling Committee, but they will be shooting in the dark when they opt for seats in government colleges or deemed universities,” said Manickavel Arumugam, who counsels students on medical and dental admissions. Some meritorious students may not get admission in colleges of their choice and many may lose the chance of admission, he said, demanding transparency from the central agency.

For instance, the state surrenders about 37 of the 250 seats in Madras Medical College to the DGHS. While top 37 students will get admission, the student ranking 38 may have to wait for state counselling for admission at the same college or they will be allotted their next choice. “When allotted their next choice, students don’t know if they should accept it or wait,” said R Saranya, a parent. In 2018, Saranya’s niece had to join Omandurar Medical College Hospital though she was among the top 70 students in the state.

While NTA officials said the data will be sent to all state governments, the state selection committee in TN said it is yet to receive any information from the agency. “Students here usually know their status once we put out the state merit list based on applications we receive,” said committee secretary Dr G Selvarajan. By then, the two rounds of counselling for the all-India quota is likely to be completed.

On Saturday, parents’ groups were putting out data they received from different tutorials on social media with a disclaimer that it would be risky to rely on it. Guessing the percentage based on the previous year’s cut-offs is often misleading. “Last year, the cut-offs went up by nearly 100 marks,” said S Vishwanthan, whose son is awaiting MBBS admission this year. “My son has scored above 550 marks this year, but I don’t know if he is eligible for a seat in a government college or self-financing college. I don’t want to make a wrong choice in the first round, but his counsellors say many students with similar scores will wait. That will push up the cut-off for the second round,” he said.

Ranks help them make smart choices when locking seats during the centralised online counselling by the Directorate General of Health Sciences

JEE & NEET frauds keep NTA on its toes

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:  23.10.2020

Forged marksheets, alleged discrepancies in OMR sheets and fraudulent mails are keeping the National Testing Agency (NTA) on its toes since the declaration of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) 2020 and Joint Entrance Examination (Main) results.

The education ministry, health ministry and NTA have received 30 complaints, majority of them related to NEETUG, about “discrepancies” that subsequent investigation proved to be cases of forgery. NTA has decided to file police complaints about these.

Indicating the pressure to perform and the need to deflect parental anger, some candidates have been resorting to forgery of the marksheets of the NEET-UG 2020 and JEE (Main) to show they scored higher marks.

According to documents accessed by TOI, the faking was so smartly carried out that NTA had to retrieve the answer booklets and take a re-look. In one case a student mailed to NTA attaching a forwarded mail from the agency showing his results, however, the marks are different. “On investigation, we found out that the documents to be forged as the scores mentioned had not been issued to any candidate,” said a senior NTA official.

There are cases where candidates changed the percentile scores of two of the three question sections and the overall rank in NEET and then got their parents to send emails to the education and health ministries and NTA claiming that they had been issued two different marksheets. However, simple errors nailed these lies.

“All genuine grievances will be entertained by the NTA. However, manipulated and fabricated cases will be viewed seriously and NTA will be forced to take legal action against such candidates including cancellation of their candidature or other unscrupulous agents representing such candidates,” said Vineet Joshi, director general, NTA.

According to Dr S Kumar, chancellor, Sri Devaraj Urs University, Kolar, medical admissions has been a “deep racket since 2005,” which however changed after NEET was introduced.

Full report on www.toi.in

JEE 2021 to be held in more regional languages

In order to widen the reach of JEE (Main), the Joint Admission Board (JAB) on Thursday decided to offer the computer-based test for admission to engineering and architecture courses in more regional languages. JEE (Main), which is also the eligibility test for JEE (Advanced) for admission to IITs, is currently offered in English, Hindi and Gujarati and its first cycle of 2021 is likely to be held in January.

The JAB meeting discussed the modalities for offering the test in regional languages and decided on a two-pronged approach. The first formula is that JEE (Main) can be offered in regional languages of states which conduct their local entrance exams for engineering and architecture courses. The second formula is that the test will be offered in the language of any state which is part of JEE (Main) and wants it to be included. TNN Full report on www.toi.in

Guv seeks time to decide on NEET, Stalin to protest

Guv seeks time to decide on NEET, Stalin to protest

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:23.10.2020

Governor Banwarilal Purohit onThursday said he would need at least three or four weeks' time to arrive at a decision on NEET quota bill that provides 7.5% horizontal reservation to the students of government schools to get admission into medical institutes.

The governor was responding to DMK chief M K Stalin, who had written a letter to him on Wednesday, urging him to immediately give assent to the bill. “I would like to inform that I am seized of the matter and getting it examined from all angles. I need at least 3 to4weekstimeto arrive at a decision. The same has also been informed to the delegation of ministerswhocalled on me recently,” Purohit said in his letter, a copy of which was released by the DMK.

In a statement, Stalin said the delay to take a decision was nothing but dilution of the bill and against the welfare of poor students of government schools. It had become inevitable to resort to agitation against the government’s "non-cooperation and indifference". “The DMK will hold a massive agitation on Saturday at 10am in front of Raj Bhavan, urging the governor to give assent to the bill immediately and against the state government for failing to exert political pressure on the governor,” Stalin said.

Quoting the letter, the DMKchief allegedthe ministerial delegation, which had spoken to the media after meeting the governor last week, had deliberately hidden the fact that the governor was seeking time to take a call. “There are also reports of the governor telling the ministers to implement 10% quota for economically weaker sections, and he would give assent to the 7.5% NEET quota bill,” Stalin said.

Recalling his readiness to jointly protest with the AIADMK to get the assent, Stalin said the CM lacked courage to protest against the governor.

In a first, TN student among top 10 NEET rankers

In a first, TN student among top 10 NEET rankers

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:17.10.2020

For the first time since the introduction of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for MBBS admissions seven years ago, a student from Tamil Nadu has broken into the top 10. Srijan R got the 8th rank nationally scoring 710 out of 720 marks. Two other candidates from the state, Mohanaprabha Ravichandran and G Swetha, scored 705 and 702 respectively and secured the 52nd and 62nd ranks. Last year, the state topper was Shruthi K, who scored 685 out of 720 marks and secured the 57th rank.

Of 1,21,617 students who had registered for the test from the state, 99,610 took it. Of them, 57,215 students (57.4%) qualified. Last year 48.5% qualified.

In 2019, the cut-off for MBBS admissions in government medical colleges went up by nearly 100 marks in most categories because of a surge in scores. Last year, the cut-off for OC category was 520 marks and for BC it was 470 marks. The cut-off for BCM and MBC was 458 marks and for SC category 360 marks. For SCA it was 301 and ST 267 marks.

Going by the high scores in NEET this year, the cut-off for medical admissions will likely increase.

This year’s state topper R Srijan, a native Vellakoil in Tirupur district, attended a coaching centre in Namakkal. Talking to reporters in Namakkal, Srijan said he has been passionate about medicine and wants to specialise in cardiology. Srijan had attempted NEET last year and appeared again this year to better his scores.

Mohanaprabha Ravichandran, who is also from the same coaching centre, emerged second in the state. Mohanaprabha said she wants to specialise in neurology.

N Jeevithkumar, a student of Tamil medium Government Model Higher Secondary School, Siluvarpatti, Theni district, has scored 664/720. He is the second student pursuing medicine from the school and has scored just over 99% in physics, chemistry and biology. He has secured the 1,823rd rank at the national level. His father K Narayanamoorthi rears goats for a living and his mother N Parameswari takes up work under the MNREGA. He had undergone NEET coaching in Namakkal district and this is his second attempt at NEET.

“Last year, the all-India topper scored 691 marks. This year, one of our students scored 700 out of 720 marks and he was ranked 105. So, it means that 105 students have scored above 700 and we expect more high scorers in NEET,” said Chandan Chand, regional director, Aakash Institute.

With inputs from Madurai and Coimbatore

N Jeevithkumar, government school student, scored 664/720

Part 2 of NEET for Covid-hit on Wednesday

Part 2 of NEET for Covid-hit on Wednesday

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:13.10.2020

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct the second part of NEET (UG) for those students who could not appear in it either because they were infected by coronavirus or because they resided in containment zones.

Accepting the request made by NTA through solicitor general Tushar Mehta, a bench headed by CJI S A Bobde said, “In view of the circumstances which have necessitated postponement of the examination in the past and in view of the prevailing circumstances, we consider it appropriate to grant permission to the NTA to conduct a second part of the NEET (UG) for Covid affected students and for those in containment zones on October  14. The result may be declared on October 16.”

A senior NTA official said, “Less than 200 candidates will take the test on Wednesday.”

Full report on www.toi.in

Students miss NEET: Three teachers suspended in MP

Students miss NEET: Three teachers suspended in MP

TNN | Sep 29, 2020, 12.03 PM IST

KHARGONE: Khargone district education officer (DEO) has suspended three teachers in the case of nine students failing to appear in NEET. Apart from this, a proposal has been sent to stop the increments of two officers.

As per official information, Khargone DEO KK Dongre has suspended Dasnaval primary teacher Prince Gupta, Segav middle school teacher Durgavati Gupta and Kelly primary teacher Geeta Bhatnagar with immediate effect.

A proposal has been sent to divisional commissioner to stop two increments of Segav block education officer ML Verma and Segav excellence school principal Sandeep Kapadnik.

Due to negligence in duty, nine students could not attend NEET held on September 13.

They were entrusted with the responsibility of arranging a bus to ferry students to the exam centre in Indore and bring them back.

Khargone collector Anugraha P, taking cognizance of the case, had directed action against the guilty after meeting with the deprived students, their parents and government officials. She had also instructed to arrange coaching for the students.

Jipmer won’t conduct MBBS entrance test from current year

Jipmer won’t conduct MBBS entrance test from current year

Admissions will be made through NEET, says director

01/10/2020

Special CorrespondentPUDUCHERRY

The Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer) will not conduct the MBBS entrance examination from the current year, with the admission process being handled by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), Directorate-General of Health Services, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

In a press note, the Jipmer Director made it explicit in the wake of rumours circulating in relation to admission counselling for MBBS seats that from the current year, Jipmer’s own MBBS entrance test had been discontinued and all admissions at the institute would be made through the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). Hence, counselling for the candidates who have qualified in NEET 2020 would be conducted by the MCC.

The allotment of seats on the Puducherry and Karaikal campuses would be done as per Jipmer’s existing policies for reservation and domicile regulations. The details are available on the Jipmer’s official website www.jipmer.edu.in

MD/MS admissions

In keeping with a communication from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, admissions to the postgraduate courses (MD/MS/DM(6 years)/M.Ch (6 years)/MDS) at Jipmer, Puducherry, for the January 2021 session will be made through a Combined Entrance Examination for Postgraduate Courses at Institutes of National Importance (CET-INI), along with those for seats at the AIIMS, New Delhi, PGIMER, Chandigarh, and NIMHANS in Bengaluru.

The test will be conducted by AIIMS, New Delhi, on November 20 at several centres around the country. Interested candidates are advised to visit the website, www.aiimsexams.org for online registration (the last date is October 12).

All applicants are required to visit the website regularly since all subsequent corrigenda, addenda and updates will be available there.

No convocation

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure the safety of all stakeholders and to abide by the restrictions imposed by the Central and Puducherry governments under the Epidemic Act, Jipmer will not conduct its annual convocation this year.

All degree certificates will be sent to the registered addresses of the students.

All the eligible students have to register themselves in the format available on the Jipmer website.

Suriya will change his stance on NEET after results, says Annamalai

 Suriya will change his stance on NEET after results, says Annamalai

18/09/2020

 Staff ReporterCoimbatore/Namakkal

BJP State vice-president K. Annamalai on Thursday claimed that actor Suriya, who issued a statement condemning the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), will change his stance once the results of the test are declared.

He participated in the 70th birthday celebrations of Prime Minister Narendra Modi organised here. Speaking to the mediapersons, he said that the results of NEET will be the answer for Mr. Suriya as the questions this year were largely covered by the State board textbooks. He termed the recent suicides of NEET aspirants in different parts of the State as “unfortunate” and alleged that a “false image” of the test was constructed. Mr. Annamalai condemned the DMK and other Opposition parties for allegedly politicising this issue.

On a question regarding the 142nd birth anniversary of Dravidar Kazhagam founder Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, Mr. Annamalai said that although Periyar was “a leader who cannot be ignored,” the BJP cannot agree with all his views. Regarding the AIADMK-BJP alliance, he said that differences within an alliance are “natural.”

The people of Tamil Nadu are in favour of the three-language formula proposed in the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) despite Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami asserting that only the two-language formula will continue to be implemented in the State, Mr. Annamalai claimed.

‘Stalin can’t stop NEET’

BJP State vice-president V.P. Duraisamy said that DMK leader M.K. Stalin will not be able to stop National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

Speaking to reporters after taking part in the birthday celebrations of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Namakkal, Mr. Duraisamy said, “NEET is conducted so that qualified candidates are selected for medical education.”

He said that the party would contest the byelection to Kanyakumari Lok Sabha 

தமிழக பாடத்திட்டத்தில் இருந்து 'நீட்' தேர்வில் 96 சதவீத வினாக்கள்

தமிழக பாடத்திட்டத்தில் இருந்து 'நீட்' தேர்வில் 96 சதவீத வினாக்கள்

Added : செப் 16, 2020 01:35

சென்னை:சமீபத்தில் நடந்த, 'நீட்' தேர்வில், தமிழக பாடத் திட்டத்தில் இருந்து, 96 சதவீத கேள்விகள் இடம் பெற்றதாக, தமிழக ஆசிரியர்கள் கண்டறிந்துள்ளனர்.

மருத்துவ படிப்புக்கான நீட் நுழைவு தேர்வு, செப்., 13ல், நாடு முழுதும் நடந்தது. தேர்வில், தமிழகத்தில், ஒரு லட்சம் பேர் உட்பட, 14 லட்சம் பேர் பங்கேற்றனர்.இந்த தேர்வில், மொத்தம், 180 வினாக்கள் இடம் பெற்றன. உயிரியல், விலங்கியல் மற்றும் தாவரவியலில், தலா, 45 வினாக்கள்; இயற்பியல் மற்றும் வேதியியலில் தலா, 45 வினாக்கள் இடம் பெற்றன.ஒவ்வொரு வினாவுக்கும், தலா, 4 மதிப்பெண் வீதம், மொத்தம், 180 வினாக்களுக்கு, 720 மதிப்பெண் நிர்ணயிக்கப்பட்டு உள்ளது.

இந்த தேர்வில் பெரும்பாலும், மத்திய அரசின், என்.சி.இ.ஆர்.டி., என்ற, தேசிய கல்வியியல் ஆராய்ச்சி மற்றும் பயிற்சி நிறுவன புத்தகத்தில் இருந்தே, கேள்விகள் இடம் பெற்றதாக, மாணவ - மாணவியர் தெரிவித்தனர்.இந்த பாடத் திட்டத்தை, சி.பி.எஸ்.இ., பள்ளி மாணவர்களே அதிகம் பின்பற்றுவதால், அவர்களுக்கு தேர்ச்சி மதிப்பெண் அதிகம் கிடைக்க வாய்ப்பு ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது.

இந்நிலையில், தமிழகத்தில், பிளஸ் 1, பிளஸ் 2 இரண்டிலும் சேர்த்து, புதிய பாடத் திட்டம் அமலான பின் நடக்கும் நீட் தேர்வு என்பதால், தமிழக பாடத் திட்ட புத்தகங்களுடன், நீட் தேர்வு வினாக்களை ஆசிரியர்கள் ஆய்வு செய்துள்ளனர்.இதில், 96 சதவீத வினாக்கள், தமிழக பாடத் திட்டங்களில் இருந்து இடம் பெற்றுள்ளது தெரிய வந்துள்ளது.

உயிரியலில் மொத்தம், 90 வினாக்களில், 87 வினாக்கள், தமிழக பாடத் திட்டத்தில் இருந்து இடம் பெற்றுஉள்ளன.இயற்பியல் மற்றும் வேதியியலில், 45க்கு தலா, 43 வினாக்கள் இடம் பெற்று உள்ளன. மொத்தம், 180 வினாக்களில், 173 வினாக்கள் நேரடியாக தமிழக பாடத் திட்ட புத்தகத்தில் இருந்து இடம் பெற்றுள்ளதாக, நீட் பயிற்சி அளித்த தமிழக ஆசிரியர்கள் கண்டறிந்துள்ளனர்.இந்த தகவல், தமிழக ஆசிரியர்களின், 'வாட்ஸ் ஆப்' குழுக்களில் பரவுகிறது.

'நீட்' தேர்வு 'கட்-ஆப்' மதிப்பெண் இந்தாண்டு எப்படி இருக்கும்?

'நீட்' தேர்வு 'கட்-ஆப்' மதிப்பெண் இந்தாண்டு எப்படி இருக்கும்?

Added : செப் 16, 2020 08:46

கோவை: நடப்பாண்டுக்கான 'நீட்' தேர்வு 'கட்-ஆப்' மதிப்பெண் குறித்து தேர்வு எழுதிய மாணவர்களிடம்எதிர்பார்ப்பு எழுந்துள்ளது.

எம்.பி.பி.எஸ்., -- பி.டி.எஸ்., உள்ளிட்ட மருத்துவ பட்ட படிப்புகளுக்கான 'நீட்' தேர்வு கடந்த, 13ம் தேதிநடந்தது. நீட் தேர்வு கட்-ஆப் மதிப்பெண்களை தேசிய தேர்வு ஆணையம் வெளியிட உள்ளது. தேர்வில் தேர்ச்சி பெற்றதாக கருதப்படும் அடிப்படை மதிப்பெண் தான் 'கட்-ஆப்' என்றுகருதப்படுகிறது. பொதுப் பிரிவு மாணவர்களுக்கு குறைந்தபட்ச தகுதி மதிப்பெண், 50 சதவீதமும், எஸ்.சி.,/எஸ்.டி.,/ஓ.பி.சி., பிரிவு மாணவர்களுக்கு, 40 சதவீதமும் உள்ளன.

வெளிநாட்டில் மருத்துவ படிப்பபை தொடர விரும்பும் மாணவர்களும் குறைந்தபட்ச தகுதி மதிப்பெண்களை பெற வேண்டும்.நீட் தேர்வு-2020 'கட்-ஆப்' மதிப்பெண் தேர்வு எழுதியவர்களின் எண்ணிக்கை, மொத்தகாலியிடங்கள், வினாத்தாளின் கடின நிலை, இட ஒதுக்கீடு போன்ற பல்வேறு காரணங்களின் அடிப்படையில் தீர்மானிக் கப்படும்.

தேசிய தேர்வு ஆணைய அறிவிப்பின்படி, நீட் கட்-ஆப் சதவீதம் என்பது பிற தேர்வர்களை ஒப்பிடும்போது, ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட தேர்வரின் செயல்திறன் விகிதம் குறித்த ஒப்பீட்டை அளிக்கிறது. அதேநேரம் 'கட்-ஆப்' மதிப்பெண் என்பது அந்த ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட தேர்வர் மொத்த மதிப்பெண்களில் பெற்றஅளவை வழங்குகிறது. கட்-ஆப் சதவீதமும், மதிப்பெண்களும் இட ஒதுக்கீட்டு பிரிவு மாணவர்களுக்கு வேறுபடுகின்றன.கடந்தாண்டு பொதுப்பிரிவு மாணவர்களுக்கு, 701-134, எஸ்.சி.,/எஸ்.டி.,/ஓ.பி.சி.,பிரிவினருக்கு, 133-107 கட்-ஆப் மதிப்பெண்களாக இருந்தது.

இந்தாண்டு முதல் அரசு பள்ளிகளில் படித்த மாணவர்களுக்கு, 7.5 சத வீத இட ஒதுக்கீடு வழங்கப்படுகிறது.

Experts urge parents not to burden their children with unrealistic expectations

Experts urge parents not to burden their children with unrealistic expectations

Sukshma.R@timesgroup.com

Madurai:

With four NEET aspirants committing suicide in the last one week in the state, counsellors and experts urge parents to understand the need for psychological support towards their wards, especially as the students will be even more anxious before the declaration of the results.

“There is no single factor when it comes to a student taking the extreme step. However, unrealistic expectations always play a role, be it from the parents or the students themselves. In such cases, it means the person is not ready to accept who he/she is,” said Arthi Sujai, a psychologist from Madurai. She also added that often suicides are the result of ideation over a long time, which can be suddenly triggered.

Aravindan Ganesan, psychiatric counsellor, Athma Hospital in Trichy, said parents should not impose their expectations on their children. They should not say anything that may emotionally hurt them. He said parents should not avoid small warning signs that the children tend to show. Children may often isolate themselves and stop conversing with family members, which can be a red flag, he said.

“Parents need to be with their children during such times and avoid comparing them with their relative’s children. Teachers can guide them with alterative career opportunities. For instance, chemists are as significant as doctors in western countries,” said Aravindan.

“Career counselling helps both students and parents take a step back and figure out what they really want. Since we are able to quantify the abilities of the child and give suggestions for careers, both parents and children are more likely to accept the choices,” said Arthi, who is also a career counsellor.

Mental health experts said that the Covid-19 pandemic can also add to the stress for students and parents this year. “The Covid-19 pandemic definitely has had an impact on students preparing for NEET. They could only prepare by online means, which is more stressful than in a classroom environment,” said Dr N Suresh Kumar, clinical psychologist and secretary, Tamil Nadu Association of Clinical Psychologists (TNACP), which has a dedicated helpline for the Covid-19 pandemic.

Six former High Court judges come to actor Suriya’s defence

Six former High Court judges come to actor Suriya’s defence

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:15.09.2020

A day after Justice S M Subramaniam of the Madras high court sought to initiate contempt of court action against actor Suriya for his alleged comment on the Supreme Court’s order allowing NEET exams during the Covid-19 pandemic, six former judges of the court have jumped to the actor’s defence.

Retired Madras high court judges Justice K Chandru, Justice K N Basha, Justice T Sudanthiram, Justice D Hariparanthaman, Justice K Kannan and Justice G M Akbar Ali have addressed a communication to the Chief Justice A P Sahi to leave the issue as it is and not to initiate any action against the actor.

“In today’s newspaper, we saw a news item informing that Justice Subramaniam has written a letter to you drawing your attention to a press statement of actor Suriya protesting against the conduct of NEET.”

“We are afraid that considering such a statement as contempt of court would be slightly off the mark and it did not require any action as requested by the judge. Where four students have committed suicide unable to meet the NEET requirement and in a surcharged atmosphere, an artistic person’s overreaction should not be taken seriously and out of context,” they said.

“If the letter is read in its totality and considering the good work done by him through his charitable trust which had helped hundreds of poor students to complete their higher education and get placements, we should show generosity and magnanimity in leaving the matter without any cognizance,” they added.

Noting that being former judges, they are concerned about the prestige and honour of the court, the six judges said, “We earnestly make this appeal not to take cognizance of the complaint and leave the matter as it is. It is our duty to make this appeal to your good selves so that the court is rid of any unnecessary controversies.”

The bar was also divided on the issue. While the Tamil Nadu advocates association (TNAA) condemned the statement made by the actor, 25 advocates led by veteran lawyer NGR Prasad said that every criticism of judiciary cannot be seen as contemptuous.

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

NEET easy, admission cut-off may be up 20 marks

NEET easy, admission cut-off may be up 20 marks

Physics Paper Easier Compared To Previous Years, Say Students; State Board Candidates Find Biology ‘Moderately Difficult’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

14.09.2020

The cut-off for MBBS admissions in the state this year could go up by at least 20 marks, forecast experts, with most students finding the National Eligibilitycum-Entrance Test (NEET) easy, particularly the physics section.

On Sunday, around 80% of the 1,17,502 students registered turned out in Tamil Nadu. “The attendance was more or less like last year. The exam was incident free,” National Testing Agency officials said. Entry and exit were planned well, with social distancing maintained in most places, while there was crowding at a few places.

Chennai registered 80% attendance, while it was 82% in Trichy, 81% in Madurai and 79% in Coimbatore.

Each of the 180 questions — physics 45, chemistry 45 and biology 90 — were for 4 marks, with 1 mark deducted for negative answer.

While Sanjay Lokesh found the physics questions slightly tough compared to the others, Irene said all three sections were easy. “I was expecting tough physics questions. But, I was able to answer all questions,” she said.

While terming it easy, Vinayak V said wearing masks and gloves were not much of a problem as he had appeared for JEE (Main) exam.

CBSE students found all three sections easy, but state board students found biology questions moderate.

Manthra D, a state board student, said biology was a little tough. “Overall, the paper was moderate. It was not too difficult or too easy,” she said.

R Deepalakshmi, a government school student, said the questions in biology were a bit twisted. “Though I spent five hours inside the hall, the time went really fast.”

B Pavan Kumar, deputy director, FIITJEE (Chennai) said the cut-off could go up by 40 marks to 50 marks for general category. “The paper was easy compared to last year. Students and coaching institutes got more time to prepare,” he said.

Students found chemistry and biology easy compared to last year, he added.

Himanshu Sachdeva, senior physics teacher at Allen Career Institute, said a lot of formula-based and expected questions in physics made it easy for students. “Overall, the paper was easy to moderate. The cut-off will be slightly higher compared to previous year,” he said, adding that 4-5 questions were tricky in each subject.

Anurag Tiwari, national academic director (medical), Aakash Institute, said usually, physics questions were tough. “This year, the questions in the paper were not calculative and lengthy. The questions were straightforward,” he said. Chemistry and biology also had similarly worded questions. “Overall, the paper was easy.

Looking into the question paper and reactions, students will score high marks compared to last year. In every state, the cut-off will increase by at least 15-20 marks,” he added.

SMOOTH SAILING: Postponed by the pandemic, NEET was held across centres in the state. With stringent anti-Covid measures in place, around 80% candidates turned up to write the exam in Chennai

More than 85% candidates appeared for NEET-UG: NTA

More than 85% candidates appeared for NEET-UG: NTA

Covid +Ve Students To Get Another Chance To Take Exam

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: 14.09.2020

Based on random sampling, the National Testing Agency said that the attendance for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) on Sunday was between 85% and 90%.

Those candidates who missed the exams after being tested positive for Covid-19 will get another opportunity to sit for the test, the date for which will be announced later. From this year the admissions to MBBS course in the 13 All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry will also be made through NEET following the amendment in National Medical Commission Act, 2019, passed by Parliament last year.

In many places NTA also arranged buses and private vehicles to transfer candidates who arrived at the centres assigned to them earlier instead of the changed one.

A total of 15.97 lakh candidates registered for the test this year as against 15.13 lakh in 2019. The attendance in 2019 was 92.9%. Unlike JEE (Main), NEET-UG is a pen-paper exam and NTA officials said that it will be able to compile the data on Monday after the centres send feedback after the dispatch of the OMR sheets.

“Based on random sampling the attendance is found to be between 85% and 90%, which is marginally lower than that of last year. The tests have been completed successfully,” said a senior official at the NTA headquarters in Noida.

 The test was offered in 11 languages – English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu this year. Based on the initial report more than 77% aspirants took the test in English, around 12% in Hindi and 11% in other languages. At a centre in Mumbai the distribution of the question paper got delayed by half-an-hour as the access card to open the digital lock failed. Finally, the trunk had to be opened manually and candidates were given extra time. Following the ministry of health and family welfare’s standard operating procedures, NTA, to avoid crowding had to add and change centres of some candidates on September 10 and 11. Though the candidates were informed via phone calls and emails, they landed up in their earlier assigned centres in the morning. For instance, in Nagpur, NTA arranged buses and vehicles to transfer the candidates to their correct centres before the exams started at 2pm. Also as per MoHFW’s SOP, Covid-19 positive candidates were not allowed to take the exam on Sunday and they will be allowed to appear at a later date. According to Vineet Joshi, director general, NTA, “Candidates who missed the test or were denied entry as they are Covid-19 positive will be allowed to take the test later. They need to follow the procedure like email to NTA attaching their medical test certificate, etc. NTA will take stock and announce the date later.”

Candidates found the conduct of the exam safe. While the agency had allotted just 12 candidates per room, down from 24 in 2019, many candidates said their room had an even lesser number of candidates.

Full report on www.toi.in

A student wearing mask and gloves makes last-minute preparations for the NEET in Kerala on Sunday

STORYBOARD

NEET, dirty politics & blood money that turn children into martyrs

ARUN RAM

14.09.2020

There’s no pain like losing one’s child, more so when the child takes his/her own life. Parents of Jothi Sri Durga, 19, M Aadithya, 20, and M Mothilal, 21, who hanged themselves on Saturday, may never come out of it fully. Similar is the plight of parents of more than 10,335 students who died by suicide in the country last year. Of them, according to the National Crime Records Bureau, 1,577 were driven to suicide because of failure in exams.

But not everyone on the list makes it to the media. Jothi, Aadithya and Mothilal, as also V Vignesh of Ariyalur who died by suicide last Wednesday, did. They were all NEET aspirants from Tamil Nadu, where virtually every political party is in the race to lead the campaign against the medical entrance exam. While Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced a solatium of 7 lakh to Vignesh’s family, DMK president M K Stalin has promised that the party, once it comes to power, will “abolish” NEET (of course, he knows that the state can’t do that).

This is politics most foul. No doubt, a majority of our children in rural areas can neither access nor afford special coaching for competitive exams, which have become a prerequisite for clearing such exams (TN government statistics show only 1.6% of students without special coaching cleared NEET last year). But, after living in denial of the emerging reality of competitive exams and not providing our children the wherewithal to compete with their urban peers, our governments are trying to turn their failure into an excuse to oppose NEET, and the victims into martyrs and causes célèbres.

It was only a couple of years ago that the Tamil Nadu government revised its school syllabus, which had remained outdated for decades, all the while prompting children to practice rote learning to clear state board exams with high scores that would get them into professional courses. And, in 2017, when rural TN students had to take NEET along with the rest of the country, some – pushed further by parents – struggled, some succumbed.

Politicians who call for abolition of NEET know well that such competitive exams are here to stay, they could only get tougher (the soundness of these tests is a subject of another debate). They also know student suicides are linked not just to NEET, but also to JEE, UPSC exams and even school board exams. Will they call for abolishing all these exams? Will the government provide solatium to families of school students who die by suicide for fear of school board exams?

NEET became the TN politician’s high striker after MBBS aspirant and school topper Anitha’s death on September 1, 2017. The dalit girl from Ariyalur, who would’ve easily got into a government medical college if the Class XII score was the sole criterion, had impleaded herself in the state government’s petition in the Supreme Court against NEET. Nine days after the apex court dismissed the plea, she hanged herself. While our heart goes out to Anitha and others who couldn’t fulfil their aspirations, we should also hold responsible the governments that denied them equality of resources and opportunity. There’s blood on the hands that give the solatium.

Coaching classes for competitive exams thrive because our children are trained to mug up in classrooms without learning concepts. This is changing, but it may take a decade before the first batch of students pass out of Tamil Nadu schools after 12 years of learning under the new and evolving syllabus that could empower them with conceptual and perspective analytical skills as much as knowledge. Till then, we can’t afford to lose more young lives that could be nurtured for the nation’s development, not just as doctors, but also as artists, farmers, teachers, writers – and just about anything as meaningful – and their own happiness.

arun.ram@timesgroup.com

Spiritual Periyar’s rule if not now, never — POSTER BY RAJINIKANTH SUPPORTERS FROM RAMANATHAPURAM

POKER FACE Let's see if this oxymoron works

NEET to have four reporting slots, more exam centres

NEET to have four reporting slots, more exam centres

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:08.09.2020

After a glitch free computer-based Joint Entrance Examination (Main), the next big challenge for the National Testing Agency (NTA) is the pen-paper mode National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) scheduled for September 13 for which 15.97 lakh candidates have registered.

In order to ensure social distancing and crowd management, the agency has increased the number of centres by 1,314 to 3,860 this year. In the standard operating procedures (SOPs) accessed by the TOI, reporting time has been divided into four slots of 40 minutes each starting from 11 am with candidates provided individual time slots. During each 40 minutes a maximum of 90 candidates will be allowed entry. At the end of the exam two invigilators will escort 24 candidates to the exit gate and the next batch will be allowed to exit only after the invigilators return.

According to NTA officials, while majority of the centres will have around 360 aspirants, there are 210 centres where candidates are 600 or more.

Apart from the centre superintendent and deputy superintendent for every 180 candidates there will be 30 invigilators, two water boys, two cleaning staff and four guards.

Till Sunday, more than 14 lakh candidates have downloaded admit cards.

“Social distancing protocol would be the key challenge for which we are planning in detail. Assigning of duties and procurement of masks, face shields, gloves, sanitisers and foot stickers are to be completed by September 9,” said an official.

“A candidate will show his/ her admit card where the roll numbers are written in large font, show the photo he/ she is carrying and remove the mask for face recognition from a distance of six feet. Then the candidate will be guided to the room. After sanitising their hands, the sealed OMR sheets will be distributed. Candidates are to open them after hand sanitising. One attendance sheet will have six names and they will sanitise the hand before and after signing,” said official.

Reporting time at the centres has been divided into four slots of 40 minutes each. A maximum of 90 candidates will be allowed entry in each slot

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.

NTA gears for pen-paper mode Neet-UG exams on Sept 13

NTA gears for pen-paper mode Neet-UG exams on Sept 13

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:08.09.2020

After a glitch free computer-based Joint Entrance Examination (Main), the next big challenge for the National Testing Agency (NTA) is the penpaper mode National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Neet-UG) scheduled for September 13 for which 15.97 lakh candidates have registered.

In order to ensure social distancing and crowd management, the agency has increased the number of centres by 1,314 to 3,860 this year. In the standard operating procedures (SOPs) accessed by the TOI, reporting time has been divided into four slots of 40 minutes each starting from 11 am with candidates provided individual time slots. During each 40 minutes a maximum of 90 candidates will be allowed entry. At the end of the exam two invigilators will escort 24 candidates to the exit gate and the next batch will be allowed to exit only after the invigilators return.

According to NTA officials while the majority of the centres will have around 360 aspirants, there are 210 centres where the number of candidates are 600 or more.

Apart from the centre superintendent and deputy superintendent for every 180 candidates there will be 30 invigilators, two water boys, two cleaning staff and four guards.

In case of centres with 600 candidates or more, there will be two gates for entry and the staff strength will also go up equivalently. During registration, the staff will be rotated every 50 minutes.

More than 9.58 lakh candidates registered for JEE (Main), which was conducted over a period of six days and 12 shifts. Neet-UG however would be conducted on a single day. Till Sunday, more than 14 lakh candidates have downloaded admit cards.

“Social distancing protocol would be the key challenge for which we are planning in detail. Assigning of duties and procurement of masks, face shields, gloves, sanitisers and foot stickers are to be completed by September 9. There will be three meetings from September 10 to September 12 for final checks,” said a senior NTA official.

In order to ensure social distancing and crowd management, the agency has increased the number of centres by 1,314 to 3,860 this year

Run service on September 13 for NEET, West Bengal government urges Kolkata Metro

Run service on September 13 for NEET, West Bengal government urges Kolkata Metro

TNN | Sep 4, 2020, 04.11 AM IST

KOLKATA: The Bengal government has requested Metro Railways to run their service on September 13 for the benefit of NEET candidates. A meeting between the state government and Metro authorities was held on Thursday to discuss the modalities of crowd control, which the latter is keen on having in place before resuming services after a five-month hiatus.

The meeting at Nabanna, the state headquarters, started at 11.30am. Among those present were home secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, transport secretary Prabhat Kumar Mishra, police commissioner Anuj Sharma, ADG (traffic) Vivek Sahay, state health secretary N S Nigam and KMC commissioner Vinod Kumar. Metro Railway principal chief operations manager (PCOM) Satyaki Nath led the three-member Metro team.

Crucial logistical and planning details were discussed at the meeting, which lasted an hour. When services do re-start, passengers may have to furnish an e-pass or a smart card to a police officer to enter a station. The policeman would perhaps let them enter only after getting a green light from RPF personnel that passengers already at the station have moved to the platform to board a train. In other words, the state and Metro will have to work together as a team to ensure anti-Covid distancing protocols are stuck to.

Another meeting is scheduled at noon on Friday for the technical committee, which was formed on Thursday with officials from Kolkata Police, the state transport department and Metro Railway.

“The committee will deduce how to control access to stations and implement graded services, considering that 3.5 lakh people may have smart cards,” a senior state official told TOI. Metro wants to allow only smart-card holders; no token will be sold from counters.

It also hasn’t been decided yet whether the Kolkata Metro would run just for that day, or whether September 13 would mark the resumption of regular services.

Whether it will be e-passes or smart cards to ensure legitimate access is something that will be clinched in the next few days. “Initial discussions took place today. There will be some more to finalize the modalities. For elaborate SOPs, two or three more meetings may be required,” Metro Railway general manager Manoj Joshi told TOI. The focus of Thursday’s meeting, he added, was crowd control. It would be the starting point of Friday’s meeting as well.

Joint CP (headquarters) Subhankar Sinha Sarkar and transport commissioner Biswajit Dutta, members of the technical committee, will thrash out the standard operating protocol with their Metro counterparts at Friday’s virtual meeting and decide whether e-passes can be issued to commuters through an app. The draft SOP also includes 8am-to-8pm services, with a third of Metro’s existing fleet of 288 trains, that may be run seven days a week, at a 12- or 15- minute gap. Frequencies will reduce further during weekends.

Standing passengers may be allowed in a Metro coach. “The seats are only on the sides. So, it will be possible for commuters to maintain some distance, even if some of them stand,” a Metro official explained. One thing that emerged from Thursday’s meeting was that while the onus of implementing distancing inside stations and coaches was on the RPF, crowd control at the entries was the state police’s responsibility. While Bengal Police and Kolkata Police would keep guard outside north-south stations, for East-West Metro, the job will be done by the Bidhannagar Police.