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 four-month delay, the entrance test was carried out on September 13. A team of subject matter experts analyzed the article and provided the page numbers of the physics, chemistry and biology textbooks from which the questions were asked.
The textbooks for classes XI and XII have covered 174 out of 180 questions, a big improvement over 2017, when around 60% of the questions were covered by the old syllabus.
Experts said that even an average student who prepared only with textbooks would easily score above 300 on NEET this year, as more than 60% of the questions were direct questions from textbooks.
“Tamil Nadu state board students should not feel inferior to CBSE students. The new textbook has closed the gap and both have a level playing field, “said Professor Rita John, head of the department of theoretical physics at the University of Madras.
State board textbooks covered 99% of the physics questions. Of the 90 questions in the biology section, 87 were covered by state board textbooks.
“An analysis of the question paper revealed that the state board biology textbooks have covered more questions than the NCERT textbooks in NEET this year,” S Shameem, deputy director of the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT ).
In chemistry, 43 out of 45 textbook questions were asked. “If students understand the concepts, they can answer all 45 questions,” said one subject matter expert.
The new textbooks were greatly improved after the revision of the syllabus. “These are interactive textbooks and can lead to other online resources for students who are interested in learning more,” Shameem said.
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