Unaware of the do’s and don’ts, many aspirants who appeared for national eligibility-cum-entrance test (NEET) for the first time on Sunday, faced a piquant situation in parts of Tamil Nadu, with some even forced to resize the sleeves of their shirts and abandon their footwear to meet the norms.
Several boys who came to attend the test wearing full sleeve shirts were taken aback when they were told that only half-sleeve shirts were allowed in the examination hall.
Left with no choice, they had to “customise” it by cutting it to size by using scissors.
Also, some who had come wearing shoes had to dump them and hastily opt for the sandals of their parents.
Girls had to hurriedly take away hair pins, hairbands and ornaments like earrings and nose-pin as these accessories were not allowed.
Some who had brought stationary items like pen, and pencil had to leave it with their parents.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which organises the exam, had mentioned that pens will be provided to the candidates at the test centres.
Though it had given a list of do’s and don’ts as part of measures to prevent malpractices, many aspirants were not aware of it.
The don’ts included big buttons, brooches and high-heeled shoes as regards to female candidates and kurta-pyjama for male aspirants.
Mobile phones and gadgets like bluetooth devices were also barred.
The do’s included “bring admit card,” “reach on time” at the exam centre with “only the required documents.”
Some aspirants had other complaints too.
A section of them said they had a tough time locating the test centre and wanted more information and landmarks to easily reach the centres.
Some students claimed that they were not allowed inside the test centre though they were late only by a “few minutes.”
NEET was held in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Tiruchirapalli, Namakkal, Tirunelveli and Vellore and about 89,000 students took the exam in about 51 centres in these cities.
