About 500 Indian students from Oman are preparing to write National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) this year
PRAVASISAMWAD.COM
The demand for National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) centre in Muscat is gaining momentum with an informal forum of parents and students taking up the matter with the Indian Embassy in Muscat and writing to authorities in India, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to set up a NEET centre in Muscat in the wake of flight bans and health risk in travelling to India from Oman.
After writing the test, coming back to Oman is uncertain due to the travel ban on flights from India.
The parents have welcomed the Indian Government’s decision to set up NEET centres in Kuwait and Dubai but are requesting a centre in Muscat, the capital city of Oman, on the grounds of a large number of students who want to write NEET from Oman and difficulty in travelling even to Dubai and Kuwait due to Covid-19 protocols.
The travels involve PCR and other Covid related tests and quarantine requirements that defocus the students from their preparations. Travel also involves the risk of catching the Covid-19 virus.
“Moreover, scheduled flights are not in operation. Every parent living in Oman has some employment-related obligations. Even if we manage to go to India for our ward’s NEET test, there is no return flight. We will go and be stuck in India. No employer will grant leave for an uncertain period till the flights are resumed. We are demanding a centre in Muscat not out of fancy, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation,” said a parent from Salalah, which is some 1000km from Muscat.
The parents have welcomed the Indian Government’s decision to set up NEET centres in Kuwait and Dubai but are requesting a centre in Muscat, the capital city of Oman, on the grounds of a large number of students who want to write NEET from Oman and difficulty in travelling even to Dubai and Kuwait due to Covid-19 protocols
According to Admins of the group formed seeking a centre in Muscat, about 500 students from Oman are preparing to write NEET this year.
The parents have written mails also to the Indian Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, and other related authorities with the signature of parents and students requesting a NEET centre in Muscat.