With no Common Entrance Test (CET) for medical and dental seat aspirants this year, many students, particularly those who studied the pre-university syllabus, found the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) — the only qualifying exam to obtain medical and dental seats — very tricky on Sunday.

Many students said the physics section was tougher than the chemistry and biology papers. Neha S., a student of a PU college in Chickballapur, said: “The CET has more direct questions, but these were twisted questions and hard to solve. Even our teachers found it difficult to help us prepare for NEET. Although our portions also were based on the NCERT syllabus, it was tough to crack some questions,” she said.

Some students also pointed out that the negative marking in the test was a matter of concern. Therefore, they refrained from answering questions they were unsure of.

Some of the candidates were those who had taken a year’s break to prepare for the exam after being unable to obtain seats last year. About 11.35 lakh candidates registered for the exam across the country. Several students had to travel from other cities to appear for the test as there were exam centres in only eight cities in Karnataka.

Ankitha Ashok, who was all smiles after appearing for the NEET, said: “I have done pretty well. Except one question pertaining to the anatomy and physiology of frog, I was able to answer everything.” However, she added that if she does not clear NEET this year, she might consider taking up a degree in biotechnology.

Many of the candidates aspiring for AYUSH (ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoeopathy) courses too had to appeared for NEET. The Central Council of Indian Medicine had announced that students aspiring for a seat in any AYUSH stream for 2017-2018 would also have to appear for NEET, but the State government subsequently raised objection as it had already notified and accepted CET applications from AYUSH aspirants.

A little late was too late

For some students, going to the NEET examination centre a few minutes late proved very costly as they were denied entry. At several centres, parents protested and urged the authorities to allow the candidates inside, but in vain.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which conducts the exam, had stated that students wouldn’t be allowed inside the exam centre after 9.30 a.m. as the test was scheduled to begin 10 a.m. At least two dozen people across five exam centres in the city missed the deadline by 5-15 minutes.

Many of the dejected parents said their wards had got stuck in traffic jams. “These students will now have to wait for a year and take the test next year if they wish to pursue medical and dental courses,” one such parent said.

Increased precautions

To ensure there were no cases of impersonation, this year NEET candidates didn’t just have to present their government ID proof. They were also made to write a line of declaration on the OMR sheet stating that all the particulars they had furnished were true.

Shashank Dubey, a candidate, said: “As all the questions are optional, we were made to write a one-line declaration on the OMR sheet.”

According to authorities, this was done to record the handwriting of the student in case it had to be verified at a later stage. Besides, additional security measures were put in place and invigilators were told where to pick the question papers from just hours before the exam.