VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Engineering Agriculture and Medical Common Entrance Test (APEAMCET) 2020 commenced in the state on Thursday amid stringent Covid19 protocols.
While social distancing guidelines were followed inside the examination centres, the same were openly flouted by candidates and their parents outside the premises.
Despite every student being provided with a specific reporting time slot, the centres were crowded from as early as 6:30 am.
All students were checked for their body temperatures and were given sanitizers before allowing them to enter into their respective examination halls.
While 1.85 lakh candidates have registered for admissions into engineering colleges, 87,637 have enrolled for agricultural and medical entrance across the 118 centers in both Telugu states - Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The entrance exam for engineering courses will be conducted from September 17 to 23 and from September 23 to 25 for the other two fields - Agriculture and Medical. The exams will be conducted in two sessions - 9 am to 12 noon and 3 pm to 6 pm.
All aspirants were also asked to fill and submit the self-declaration form to ascertain that they are not suffering from any symptoms of the coronavirus.
Transportation for some of the students remained a matter of concern as regular public transport is yet to resume operations.
"Special buses should have been arranged for all candidates allowing one parent with each student. Only a few have the luxury of having a car or sharing a car with their friends. The government knows that every year thousands of students depend completely on public transport to reach these exam centers. They should have considered this and made arrangements in advance when they decided to conduct the exams," an aspirant said.