There’s nothing neat about NEET in 2020

Students complain about hunger, overcrowding outside centres

Battling covid-19 fears, aspirants of medical and dental courses in colleges appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) on Sunday.
While 16 lakh students appeared for the three-hour-long test, as many as 1,19,587students in 298 examination centres across Karnataka wrote the exam on Sunday.

However, the restrictions in place due to the pandemic transformed the atmosphere for exam takers. Apart from police personnel being deployed at centres to enforce social distancing restrictions, students were advised against even carrying their own stationery.

Instead, they were provided sanitised pens and masks inside the classrooms.

They were asked to reach the centres as early as 11. 30 am for the exam which started at 2 pm.

Talking to BM, Prerna, a medical aspirant explained that early entry for students meant that hunger was an issue for many. ”It was quite difficult for a lot of us to stay energetic throughout the exam. It would have been great if we were allowed to carry refreshments to keep our glucose levels up,” she said..

For some again distance proved to be an issue. Shashwath, a student, had to travel from for two hours from Hebbal to Kanakapura Road in the city’s traffic to write the exam. He also noticed that parents crowded outside the centres and flouted social distancing norms.

However, Ravi Kumaraswamy, a parent explained, “The authorities are doing their job perfectly well. The centres have ample space for parking where parents can wait while the children write the exam.”