In a boost for students who aspire to study MBBS in Tamil Nadu, the revised state board textbooks have covered almost all questions in NEET this year. An analysis of the NEET 2020 question paper has revealed that the new textbooks covered 97% of questions.
The state government had revised the state board syllabus and introduced updated textbooks for Class XI in 2018-19 and for Class XII in 2019-20.
After a delay of four months, the entrance test was held on September 13. A team of subject experts analysed the paper and has provided the page numbers from physics, chemistry and biology textbooks from where the questions were asked.
Class XI and XII textbooks have covered 174 out of 180 questions, a big improvement from 2017 when around 60% questions were covered by the old syllabus.
Experts said even an average student who prepared only with textbooks would easily score above 300 in NEET this year as more than 60% questions were direct questions from the textbooks.
“Tamil Nadu state board students should not feel inferior to CBSE students. The new textbook has bridged the gap and both have a level-playing field,” said professor Rita John, head, department of theoretical physics, University of Madras.
“An analysis of the question paper revealed that the state board biology textbooks have covered more questions than NCERT textbooks in NEET this year,” S Shameem, deputy director, State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT).
In chemistry, 43 out of 45 questions were asked from the textbooks. “If students understand the concepts, they can answer all the 45 questions,” a subject expert said.
The new textbooks are vastly improved following the revision in syllabus. “These are interactive textbooks and can lead to other online resources for students who are interested to learn more,” Shameem said.
Source: TOI
