While the board examinations got over on Friday, S. Kanmani will hardly have any time to take a few days off. She along with several other students from State board schools across the city will be kick starting their preparations for the NEET exam scheduled on May 7.
“Given all the confusion surrounding the conduct of the examination in the State, we hardly have any time to concentrate on preparations for the entrance and are hoping that we can put in our best through April,” she said. Many students like her are seeking out coaching and training centres which are offering intensive courses and camps to prepare them for the exam.
Archana Ram, Managing Director of SMART training resources, said they had seen an overwhelming response among students for the intensive programme that their centres are offering through April.
Introductory classes
“State Board students will have the same course material and curriculum as the CBSE students but additionally, we are preparing the State board students by giving them a few introductory classes to reorient them with a few concepts. At the end of the day, they will all be writing the same exam and we are hoping to ensure that all the students are clear about how to attempt the paper,” she explained.
Heads of schools in the city said that parents had been seeking them as well as teachers to ask them how to help their children preparing for NEET. “We are constantly asked about what areas in subjects the students should concentrate on or where they should go for coaching classes and most of us remain unaware of how to guide them. It will take at least a year or two for the stream to familiarise with NEET and how the exam is conducted to train our students accordingly,” said the headmistress of a school in the city.
G. Pandian, principal of Sir Sivaswami Kalalaya Higher Secondary School, said that it was important for students to have a strong foundation in their class 11 concepts to crack a competitive paper like NEET.
While a majority of coaching centres have already began classes for State board students, CBSE students too will be enrolling themselves in courses as soon as their exams end.
The science students have their last examination on April 5 and will take the Biology paper.
