Students who have applied for the Graduate Aptitude Test-Biotechnology (GAT-B) for admission to the Department of Biotechnology-supported postgraduate programmes are set to be in distress over the difficulties in making travel arrangements within the State and the inter-State quarantine restrictions.
The all-India joint entrance test is conducted online by the Regional Centre for Biotechnology on June 30 in 58 centres across the country including Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur in Kerala.
Third choice
An applicant could choose three centres and the third choice for an applicant from Kerala are in neighbouring States: Coimbatore, Bengaluru, Chennai or Tiruchirappalli.
The portal for application is on from June 1 to June 18. The mode of application is only online.
The applicant will know his/her centre of examination only on June 25 when the admit card is to be released online.
The applicants and their parents in areas other than Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur and adjoining district are worried about the difficulties in making long-distance travel because of COVID-19.
Quarantine curbs
“The travel and quarantine restrictions in the neighbouring States will make it practically impossible to exercise the third option,” said a retired engineer in Kannur whose daughter has applied for GAT-B.
“The COVID-19 situation in the neighbouring States is much worse than in Kerala and in the current circumstances it is very difficult to make arrangements for travel even to Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram, especially when you can’t book a hotel room and access other amenities such as restaurants,” he added.
It is suggested that increasing the number of test centres in clusters of three districts with the exam centre located in the middle district is a solution so that the applicants, at the most, need travel only to the adjoining district to write the test.