Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has issued a revised SOP for NEET 2020 and all other examinations to help contain the spread of COVID-19. National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2020 will be held in the coming Sunday, September 13 and these are guidelines shall be followed on the exam day.
The revised SOP for NEET 2020 and other exams have the following important points that the staff, students, and parents have to follow at the exam centers:
#1. Physical distancing of at least 6 feet to be followed as far as possible.
#2. The use of face covers / masks will be mandatory across all the centres.
#3. Hand wash must be done whenever possible with soap for atleast 40-60 seconds. Hand sanitisation must be done regularly using alcohol-based hand sanitizers for at least 20 seconds.
#4. All respiratory etiquettes must be followed at all costs. This involves the strict practice of covering the mouth and nose while coughing / sneezing with the back of the elbow or handkerchief.
#5. Spitting here and there must be restricted.
#6. Aarogya Setu app installation in mobile phones must is mandatory.
#7. Only those examination centers which are outside the containment zone will be allowed to function. Staff / examinees from containment zones will not be permitted in the exam centres.
#8. Students must be called for reporting at the centre in staggered manner to reduce the overcrowding.
#9. Seating arrangement must be done keeping in mind the social distancing protocol. There must be enough rooms to accommodate the students with enough gap between each of them.
#10. Appropriate arrangements for personal protection gears like face covers / masks, and other logistics like hand sanitizers, soap, sodium hypochlorite solution, etc. must be there at the exam center.
#11. Students and the functionaries have to submit health declaration form.
#12. Enough staff must be deployed at the exam centres to manage crowd and social distancing.
#13. All exam centres must have one or more isolation room. The symptomatic candidates must be isolated and allowed to give exams at these designated isolation rooms.
#14. While entering the exam centers thermal scanning using thermo gun is compulsory for all. If any examination functionary / examinee fails to meet the self-declaration criteria, they shall not be allowed entry.
COVID-19 SOP for pen and paper based tests
For pen and paper-based tests, like NEET 2020, the invigilator has to sanitize his hands prior to the distribution of question papers/answer sheets. The examinees will also sanitize their hands before receiving such papers and handing them back to invigilators. No one should use spit / saliva for counting / distributing sheets. Personal belongings like stationery items must not be shared.
What will happen to the COVID-19 symptomatic candidates at the exam centers?
First of all the ill person must be isolated in a room or area where they are in no contact with the rest of the attendees. It has to be made sure that the ill person is wearing a mask. If symptoms deteriorate, the person should be referred to the nearest health center. They will be given a chance to reappear in the exam through other means or whatever decision is taken by the authorities.
Around 16 lakh students will be appearing for NEET 2020. The exam will be held for a duration of 3 hours and there will be questions asked from Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. NEET is the only medical entrance exam in the nation. Qualified candidates will be allowed admission to undergraduate medical programs in NEET participating institutions.
