What a NEETmare! Re-test shock leaves students and parents emotionally drained

The National Testing Agencyrsquos decision to reconduct NEET following reports of a paper leak has left lakhs of students and parents distressed with many saying years of preparation financial investment and emotional effort have been thrown into uncertaintyThe May 3 examination will now be held again for all 22 lakh registered candidates after reports of a leak surfaced According to reports the leak originated in Rajasthan and spread to other states with complaints reaching the NTA on May 8 Students across Mumbai said the announcement has shattered morale after months of intense preparationldquoMy daughter was sobbing all day and I had to come back from work to pacify her Itrsquos the students who worked hard studied for 15 hours a day who will suffer After the NEET we had plans to go abroad to give our daughter a short break but it has all been cancelled and she has already begun studying againrdquo a Worlibased parent told middayParents questioned why all candidates were being made to retake the examination instead of action being limited to those allegedly involved in unfair practicesldquoWe have gone through many difficulties to raise this sum and yet everything remains uncertain Why are all the students being punished for the leakrdquo said Imtiyaz Khan a Maladbased parent Others said students are mentally exhausted after months of pressureldquoThis patch of exams is generally very tough for parents and students alike We believed that our daughter would fare well in these exams but now these scores are not being considered The children are devastated my daughter is stating that she doesnrsquot have the energy to take another attempt so now we have to encourage the young onesrdquo said a Navi Mumbaibased parentNEET retest at a glancegtgt Original NEET exam held on May 3gtgt Reports of paper leaks surfaced latergtgt Leak allegedly traced to Rajasthangtgt Complaints reached NTA on May 8gtgt Retest to be conducted for all 22 lakh candidatesgtgt Admit cards and registration details remain unchangedFinancial and emotional impactgtgt Parents claim annual preparation costs range between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 6 lakhgtgt Students reportedly studied up to 15 hours dailygtgt Families cancelled postexam holidays and travel plansgtgt Students now face renewed preparation pressureExpert SpeakSudha Shenoy a NEET counsellorlsquoThe students will be competing with the same set of people and the same syllabus so itrsquos crucial that they donrsquot stress out It is vital to view this as a golden opportunity to work on your preparation considering that the NTA would give them at least 3045 more days before the retestrsquoDr Santosh Kadam IMA Maharashtra past presidentlsquoThe NEET examination was cancelled due to reports of a paper leak More than 20 lakh students who are in their tender adolescent years will suffer This is a mental trauma for them They will again have to prepare for and appear in such a competitive exam The CBI is probing the matter This is a failure of the NTA and eventually the education department of the central government Responsibility must be fixed for such a major failure and accountability should be ensuredrsquoStudent SpeakParidhi Rajgrahia NEET aspirant from WorlilsquoAfter the paper I saw several students across the internet state that they expected 720 and even finished their paper 25 minutes prior I was wondering what I did wrong since the paper was quite lengthy this year and then the paper leak news came out Getting back to the same momentum in such a short time is definitely going to take a toll on us Who is to say that the paper wonrsquot be leaked againrsquoArnav Deshmukh NEET aspirant from DombivalilsquoOn May 3 I heaved a sigh of relief thinking I could let go of the pressure However the news of paper leaks started surfacing and I was stressed about a retest Now thatrsquos happening However Irsquom happy still that the retest is being conducted because deserving students should get a fair chance Students who genuinely studied hard and scored in the 640s could lose out on admissions because of the leak so a retest is the fairest option for usrsquo