Shunning Diwali, these TN villages have a reason
With festivals becoming celebrations of consumption to seek happiness, a dozen villages in the Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu present a different picture.
Even after the stiff opposition from the DMK government and the slugfest with the AIADMK-BJP combine in Tamil Nadu against conducting NEET exams, a total of 1,10,971 students from the state will take the exam scheduled from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Tamil Nadu has 225 examination centres for NEET. In the state capital, 17,992 students will take the exam in 33 centres.
Students will be allowed into the examination halls on a staggered basis with the first batch to enter classrooms by 10.30 a.m. and this will continue till 1.30 p.m., half an hour before the commencement of the examination.
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Strict Covid-19 protocols will be ensured at the examination centres and students will be provided N-95 masks.
Experts say many students miss the face-to-face coaching and peer learning and performances could dip this year. Coaching centres and schools had conducted mock examinations on Saturday as last-minute preparation for the mode of exam. Several students complained that attending the exam wearing N95 masks created problems for them.
M.R. Geetha, a NEET aspirant from Triplicane in Chennai said, “I am attending the coaching classes of a private entrance coaching institute. On Saturday, there was a mock exam at the institute and we were told to wear N 95 masks and for the first one hour, it was fine but later it was irritating. I don’t know how I will perform in such a situation.”
Many students have been advised to do “Pranayama” by the coaching institutes and schools as a preparation for wearing the mask continuously for three hours and to increase lung power.
Helen David, a teacher of Physics at a prestigious school in Chennai said, “It is indeed a tough proposition for students to take the NEET examination with the N 95 masks on. However, students are geared up and I don’t think that they will underperform.”
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