A total of 11,475 students wrote the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) at 35 centres in Madurai district on Sunday.
P. Hamsapriya, the Academic Director of Mahatma Group of Schools and NEET coordinator, said the centres followed the protocol issued by the National Testing Agency. In each exam hall only 12 students and two invigilators were present, she said.
S. Saran, a government school student from Ayyanarkulam near Usilampatti, who took the test at a centre in Keezhamathur, said he was very anxious before the start of the examination. “But once I started writing, I gained confidence. With the postponement of the examination, I had time to prepare well,” he said.
S. Joshna from Rameswaram said initially it was difficult to write the exam wearing face mask and hand gloves. “But I got used to it after a while,” she said.
S. Vennila Devi, the district coordinator for government-sponsored NEET coaching, said most of the government school students gave a positive feedback and said that the examination was relatively easier than last year. The students said Biology was easier and many questions had appeared from the textbook, she said.
Parents and relatives, who had accompanied the students, stood out in the open for hours. The problem was more pronounced for parents who had travelled from other districts. “But, fortunately, the sky was overcast,” said I. Velankanni, a parent from Batlagundu in Dindigul district.
But, across most centres, many parents did not wear face masks and were standing in groups without following personal distancing norms.
Though students were disbursed in batches from exam centres with adequate personal distance, parents crowded outside most of the centres with total disregard to personal distancing norms.
Traffic movement was severely affected for some time outside the centres when the test was over.
R. Kalaivani, a parent from Chokkikulam, said the students and parents were stressed due to the uncertainty over the conduct of the exam. “The recent suicides caused more anxiety. But we repeatedly told our daughter that there was no need to worry about the results,” she said.
In other districts
A girl student, who arrived at the centre at 1.35 p.m, in Sivaganga district was not permitted to write the test as she was late by five minutes. A boy who did not bring his Aadhaar card for verification faced some difficulty.
In Theni district, 765 students took the test. In Tirunelveli district, 6,233 students took the test.
