The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has issued dress code for students to attend the upcoming NEET entrance examination. Students willing to pursue MBBS and BDS at medical colleges, the board has asked candidates to come in “not to wear shoes” and “light-coloured half sleeves dress”

The CBSE had attracted a lot of criticism and faced protest last year when students were forced to remove their head scarves to gain entry into the exam halls. the board has added that the candidates will have to report at the exam centre an hour earlier in case they choose to wear their “customary dress”.

According to the dress code, the candidates will have to wear “light clothes with half sleeves, not having big buttons, brooch/badge, flower etc. with salwar/ trouser,” and “slippers, sandals with low heels and not the shoes,” to the exam centre. The NEET exam will be conducted on May 6, from 10am to 1pm. “The schedule will remain unaltered even if the date of the test is declared a public holiday,” CBSE said in a statement.

It has also barred students from carrying communication devices to the exam centres. The board said that no arrangement would be made at the centres for keeping any items belonging to the candidates. Other restricted items include geometry/pencil box,handbags, belt, cap, ornaments, watch and any other metallic item.