JEE & NEET would postponing be the right call?!
- Hia Sadho
- Aug 30, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 21, 2021
The two key exams - the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for admission to the Indian Institute of Technology and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to medical courses - are scheduled to be held this month. Now the JEE Main is scheduled from September 1-6 and NEET is planned on September 13.
The exams have been put off twice during the Covid19 pandemic. The JEE-Mains was originally scheduled to be held from April 7 to April 11 but was postponed to July 18-23. The NEET-UG was originally scheduled for May 3 but was pushed to July 26.
On August 17th, Supreme Court dismissed a plea seeking postponement of the two exams, petitioned by 11 students from 11 states who had wanted the authorities to be asked to conduct the exams only after normalcy is restored.
Six Ministers of opposition-ruled states moved the Supreme Court on Friday seeking review of its order permitting the Centre to conduct NEET and JEE entrance exams this year amid the persisting COVID-19 pandemic. The review plea has been filed by ministers from West Bengal (Moloy Ghatak), Jharkhand (Rameshwar Oraon), Rajasthan (Raghu Sharma), Chhattisgarh (Amarjeet Bhagat), Punjab (BS Sidhu) and Maharashtra (Uday Ravindra Sawant).
How the Government countered the call for postponement?
The PM Mr Narendra Modi said, "Over 150 academicians from various universities in India and abroad wrote to him and said that delaying the medical and engineering entrance exams any further will mean compromising the future of students." He also claimed that those opposing the conduct of the examinations are toying with the future of students to propel their own political agenda.
>>>While the government deemed it wise to postpone these life-changing exams at 50,000 cases, 3.3 Million seems like a fitting number to hold them again. On one end we are told by the government that large gatherings must not be held to prevent the spread of the pandemic and on the other such large scale examinations are being staged. Such blatant hypocrisy.
The HRD Minister on his part said that more than 1.7 million candidates have already downloaded their admit cards for JEE and NEET, which shows students want the exams to be conducted.
>>>When forced to face the dreadful choice between their health and their academic future, students prefer to risk their lives, which clearly paints a picture of the severity of academic stress the students are under. Also, the petitions and protests spreading like wildfire all over the country paint a very clear picture.
NTA has said it will increase the number of examination centres, put in an alternative seating plan with fewer candidates per room and staggered entry and exit for safely conducting NEET and JEE in September.
“We have received emails from students and parents who are in favour of holding the exams, as they have been preparing for the exams for at least two to three years,” Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank,” said on Thursday.
>>> Kerala Engineering, Architecture and Medical exams which were held on 16th July, lead to a disastrous rise in the Covid-19 cases in the state. Being one of the foremost states in battling the pandemic it shows how difficult it would be to conduct the exams in states already dwindling between the crisis.
“This makes no sense and placing the lives and health of students at risk and of invigilators and parents who accompany them to the examinations. It risks eliminating all prospects of social distancing and safety measures in the areas of the exam halls and on top of that it puts a considerable disadvantage to those students living far away from the exam centres, those who’ve returned their homes, those based in relatively inaccessible areas, flood-prone areas or even containment zones; getting out of those areas coming to take the examinations will not be easy for the students.” -- Shashi Tharoor
What should be done now?
The NEET-JEE exams are on a far bigger scale: around 25 lakh students are already registered. This portends an extremely dire situation, many times worse than what happened at the administration of the KEAM exam. NEET-JEE simply must not be conducted in September. It should, at minimum, be postponed at least to November, after Diwali.
If that later date is still not practicable, the government is right in saying that students cannot be forced to lose a whole academic year. In that case, in my view, the only way forward that is practical, safe, and respectful of the well-being of both students and examiners is an at-home examination. This would allow students to take the exam in the safety of their own homes, and not force them to crowd into exam halls that have the immense potential, as we have seen, to become ‘super-spreaders’ of COVID-19. The government should set up online-equipped testing centres for those who are unable to take the exam at home for whatever reason. But these students are likely to form a much smaller number, so social distancing norms can be maintained in such centres to eliminate any risk of transmission.
"If the ruling party does not wish to be seen as ‘anti-students’, and if it truly cares about the well-being of young Indians, it must listen to reason – and to the Opposition. The government must adapt to the sobering reality of the situation. Lovers of learning should not find their paths to a bright future blocked by a myopic and ill-considered decision to hold the exams in-person at the height of a pandemic. We must keep the future builders and leaders of India safe – for their sake, and for that of our nation."
Writer: Hia Sadho
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