Aspirants who wrote National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)-UG yesterday were in for a surprise when they had come across crazy rules from the National Testing Agency (NTA). These rules freaked out a lot of girl students as they “barred candidates from wearing nose-pins, ring, earrings, chain/necklace, pendants, badge, and brooch, among others.” A lot of visuals of girls removing their earrings and nose pins at exam centers went viral on social media. This drew a lot of flak from citizens and students “for being ridiculous.”
What came as a surprise and was really annoying for most students was also a dress code which asked students to dress a certain way which was acceptable for the NTA. “Dress in light clothes, preferably half sleeves, slippers, sandals with a low heel, and not shoes. In case, candidates come in cultural/customary dress at the exam center, they should report before 12 noon so that there is enough time for proper checking without any inconvenience to the candidate while maintaining the sanctity of the examination,” NTA’s rule-book on NEET said.
Apart from that, it said that students are barred from carrying instruments, geometry, pencil box, handbag, purse, any kind of paper, stationery, printed or written material, eatables, water, mobile phone, earphones, microphones, pager, calculator, docupen, slide rules, log tables, camera and tape recorder into the exam center.
“Likewise, students should not wear or carry a watch, including electronic ones with facilities of calculator, or any metallic item or electronic devices into the exam hall. But, diabetic students will be allowed to bring eatables such as sugar tablets, fruits like banana, apple, and orange and a transparent water bottle,” it added.
These strict measures proved to be a huge hassle for students who were visibly upset about rules that really didn’t make sense. A lot of students, girls and boys were asked to get rid of their ornaments and other jewelry which the NTA believed could “cause inconvenience to them while maintaining the sanctity of the exam.” While boys were apprehended for having too many pockets on their shirts, girls who were forced to remove their “gold jewelry,” complained of the lack of safe storage place while the NEET officials made a big fuss of it.
A lot of pre-exam formalities along with the anxiety apparently irked a lot of students who were already reeling under the pressure of appearing for the exam. The National Testing Agency needs to wake up and get rid of such ridiculous rules while ensuring a safe and calm environment which helps students decrease their exam fear, rather than increase it!