Amid hue and cry over “inadequate” number of centres allotted to Kashmir for National Entrance Eligibility Test (NEET) 2019, the divisional administration has stepped in.
The divisional administration has recommended setting up of”adequate number” of centres in the Valley to avoid travelling by the studentsto outside state for appearing in the prestigious exam.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) which is the examconducting body for NEET and other national level competitive exams has allottedexam centres to Kashmiri students outside Valley which has evoked widespreadresentment.
“We have got the information about the issue and we haverecommended that adequate (number of) centres should be set up in Valley,”divisional commissioner Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan said.
“We will get the issue resolved by tomorrow so that studentswon’t face any inconvenience,” he said.
However, the students appealed to the governoradministration to take up the matter with NTA and seek allotment of morecentres for valley to avoid their traveling outside valley to appear in theexams scheduled on May 5.
“We have bitter experience of the past when 500 GATEaspirants from the Valley missed the exams. The state administration had toestablish the exam centres in Kashmir after first batch of students missed theexams due to prolonged highway closure,” said Absar an aspirant from Srinagar.
In February, NTA had not allotted any exam centre to Kashmirwhile holding online GATE exams. Later, five exam centres were set up inKashmir to enable students to appear in the exams.
The undergraduate NEET is conducted for admission to MBBSand BDS courses offered at medical and dental institutes approved by medicalcounsel of India (MCI).
“This is an offline exam which can be conducted in anycollege in Kashmir but NTA has setup few centres in Srinagar colleges. Examcentres of more than 40 percent students have been allotted outside Valley,”said Peerzada Ahnif, a NEET aspirant from Anantnag.
The aspirants also complained that the NTA has not allottedthe centres on first come first served basis which used to be the criteria inthe previous exams.
“I submitted my application on the first day after the linkwas notified by NTA but still my exam centre is in Jammu. Students who submittedtheir exam form during last days have been allotted their exam centres inKashmir,” Ahnif said.
Despite being an offline exam, the students have beenallotted exam centres in outside state like Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Amritsar,Rajasthan and New Delhi.
“Traveling outside Kashmir to appear in exams provescumbersome for us and it all gets messed up which distracts students’ mindsduring last days of preparations. We pay Rs 1500 as exam fee but we have tobear additional expenses around Rs 12000 to Rs 15000 for travelling by air,” hesaid, adding that student avoid taking risk of travelling by road.
Given the importance of this prestigious national levelexam, academicians also expressed concern over lack of adequate number of examscentres in Kashmir.
“NTA should not keep the exam centres confined to onlySrinagar Colleges but they can setup few exam centres in Baramulla and otherdistricts as well as it has to be conducted in offline mode,” said ProfessorTariq Chalkoo.
“Even if it is computer based test (CBT) most of thecolleges can conduct it and students need to be forced to trace to otherplaces,” he said.