How difficult will the test paper be? What would the questions be like? Will I be able to handle them? These are some understandable anxieties that run through the minds of students on the D-Day. After all, for aspiring doctors, the NEET is a “make or break” deal.
But during the recent test, beyond the usual exam stress, many aspirants were in for a rude last-minute shock when it came to enforcing the dress code. Unaware of the dos and don’ts, several students faced a sorry situation in various parts of the country with the examiners asking them to remove their high-heeled footwear, cut the sleeves of their tops, and change denims, among other things.
In an appalling incident, a female candidate who appeared at a NEET exam centre in Kannur in Kerala, was asked to remove her top inner wear in front of the female checking officer, without access to the privacy of a restroom. It was reported that another candidate, who was wearing a pair of jeans, was asked to remove a pocket as well as metal buttons from the clothing. Her father stated that he went to a shop about three kilometres away from the exam centre and bought a new dress for his daughter after getting the shop opened. From rushing to a jeweller to get tight ear studs removed to slitting off pockets and buttons from their trousers, female candidates faced a harrowing experience due to strict but mindless adherence to the CBSE’s anti-cheating dress code.
The boys were not spared either. Several videos and posts have gone viral over the last week, showing students going to the exam barefoot, ripping off their shirt sleeves or scurrying at the last minute to change their outfits.
Conundrum
Prior to the NEET, the CBSE had released its dress code guidelines, along with a list of permitted and non-permitted apparel and accessories. Candidates were told to wear light-coloured half-sleeved clothes and only slippers or sandals. While a separate list of banned items included shoes, long-sleeved shirts, watches and any type of jewellery or ornaments — it did not include jeans with metal buttons, trousers with pockets or hooked bras.
Allegedly, the CBSE had instructed exam centres to not allow candidates whose outfits set off the metal detector. However, by what stretch of imagination is it even logical to expect normal clothes and inner garments to be free of metal hooks or buttons? And clothes, whether light or dark in colour, are hardly see-through in any way. So, what was the point in meaninglessly restricting entry to the exam hall and causing pandemonium among students and parents in the eleventh hour? Instead, the test officials could have applied some common sense and taken a call after verifying if an item of clothing or accessory could indeed pose a threat or aid cheating in any way.
While the intent behind the strict dress code — a bid to prevent copying and other malpractices — is understandable, the manner in which it was enforced at several exam centres belies all reason. A CBSE rule book with a number of caveats and their insensible enforcement to the letter has led to uncalled for inconveniences, and, in some cases, humiliation. The sheer insensitivity of the test officials would most certainly have had serious ramifications on the students’ test performance. Imagine the psyche of a 17 or 18-year-old barely out of school, who has put in months of rigorous efforts for what is perhaps the most decisive exam of his/her career, only to be frisked, manhandled and thrown totally out of gear just moments before the exam. The very purpose behind the NEET was to put all medical aspirants on a level playing field and raise the bar of our country’s doctors. To what end is this objective met when we have messed with the minds of the youngsters just as they are expected to play their A-game?
Fraudulent practices in any exam are obviously a big ‘no’. But is regressive action such as banning essential items and overzealous enforcement of rules to the point of insensitivity the only solution? Instead, shouldn’t we be looking at enhancing security measures through foolproof verification and surveillance? And, more importantly, shouldn’t the test officials be sufficiently trained with practical real-world scenarios to prevent such senseless indignities which were ultimately unfair to the candidates and unhelpful to the larger cause?
When Shah Rukh Khan or Aamir Khan are frisked and detained at an international airport, it becomes a matter of national outrage. Yet here, the dignity of India’s daughters is tattered at the hands of its own officials. On the one hand, our country harps about women empowerment, and yet, on the other hand, simple callousness has led to a slew of extreme but extremely avoidable measures that have shaken the very foundations of one’s “right to dignity and self-respect.”
The author is managing director, SMART Training Resources India.
