Chennai: Anxiety gripped the air as more than 20,000 students accompanied by parents and guardians took the NEET UG on Sunday.While nervous students rummaged through bags to check for mandatory documents and photos and resorted to last-minute revision, parents offered moral support staying by their ward’s side and feeding them food. Several parents braved the searing heat, sitting on pavements and taking shelter under thatched roofs of roadside stalls, bracing themselves for a three-hour wait.“I come from Periyapalayam, and got a centre in Velachery. I don’t care about waiting for even 10 hours as long as my daughter scores well,” Mayalagu, a businessman, said. Several repeaters as well as first-timers took the test. “This is my second attempt. I scored 440 last time (out of 720) and couldn’t land a govt college seat. This time, I took a year-long coaching at Vellammal, and I am confident of scoring more than 600,” said Vishnupriya.Parents of several repeaters said they decided to send wards for coaching to get a better chance at cracking the test. “I enrolled my daughter at a coaching centre in Anna Nagar. The yearly fee is 2 lakh. For residential accommodation, they charge another 50,000. This makes up 40% of my annual pay. I do not want to take any chances with my daughter’s future,” said Saravanan, a parent from Ponneri.Some of the students aspire to go abroad. “I just want to qualify. I plan to go to the UK to pursue my studies,” said Sai Kishore, a student of Daniel Thomas Matriculation School.Several centres saw volunteers of colleges and coaching centres hand out pamphlets canvassing for admissions. “I am getting 600 to hand out pamphlets and note down phone numbers of parents. The focus is to get parents to sign up for a seminar later this month,” said S V Kumaran, a volunteer from Hello Mentor.
