Teachers offer virtual classes to help students crack NEET

COIMBATORE: Two government schoolteachers are offering virtual classes to prepare the students for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). The classes are open to only government school students.
A Sudha, a Zoology teacher with the Pollachi municipality girls’ higher secondary school, and a biology teacher, who didn’t want to be named, with the government school at Gomangalampudur have been conducting online classes for the NEET aspirants for the past one week.
While there were only close to 40 students on the first day of the training programme, the number of students attending the online classes has crossed the 300-mark in a week.
Sudha said, “Initially, we conducted classes for the students in our friend circles. As the word of mouth spread, students in Class XII and others, who have been preparing for the NEET, from across the state started attending the classes.”
The class is conducted from 11:30 am to 1 pm daily. “After analyzing the past seven years’ question papers, we have identified a set of important topics to be prioritized. We are also teaching both the Class XI and XII subjects from the scratch. We have finished two lessons already,” she said.
As of now, the teachers are focusing on biology, which is their area of specialization. “We are waiting for teachers who are specialized in other subjects to join us to expand the classes.”
Now that the 7.5% internal reservation is in place for the government school students in medical colleges, Sudha said many of their students have secured a medical seat. “This has given hope to other students and the number of government school students who are willing to take up the NEET has significantly increased. It is to help them, especially in this time of the pandemic, that we started the training programme. Because, unlike the private school students, they cannot afford hefty fees to join coaching centres.”