About 37,459 students of Odisha appeared for the important National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2020 held at 83 testing centres in seven cities of as many districts in the State on Sunday.
Students who had applied for free travel and free stay reached allotted hostels along with hostels last night.
While tests were conducted from 2 pm to 5 pm, students entered testing centres from 12 am, two hours of scheduled time. Students strictly adhered to all Covid guidelines, including use wearing of facemasks and social distancing, at the testing centres. Their seats were arranged at 6-ft distances. Thermal screening were conducted on students before their entry to the campuses.
According to the guidelines of the National Testing Agency (NTA), students having tested positive for the Covid-19 were not allowed not sit for the test this time.
However, they would appear for a test on a later date, which will be finalised after.Students having cold, cough and sneezing-like problems sat for the test in separate rooms. Each centre had a separate room for such students and two PPE wearing invigilators guided them.The State Government provided all arrangements for free staying and boarding to students came from distance places.
As the highest number of 15,000 students sat for the test in Bhubaneswar, the BMC had provided accommodation to students in hostels of five engineering colleges here.In view of Corona-19 pandemic, this time 29 more testing centres had been set up compared to the last year. While 54 examination centres had been arranged for 33,797 students last year, 83 centres were set up this year for 37,459 students.