Students wearing protective masks wait to enter an examination center for the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE), amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. (Reuters)
The Supreme Court had previously dismissed a petition to postpone the two exams amid a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases, saying that a “precious year” of students cannot be wasted and that life must go on.
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Following JEE Main, the National Testing Agency (NTA) is now preparing to take the NEET medical entrance exam scheduled for September 13 for which more than 15 lakh candidates have registered. The joint entrance examination (JEE Main), which began on September 1 for admission to engineering colleges, will conclude on Sunday.
The crucial exams will take place in September after being postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to NTA officials, 15.97 lakh of candidates from across the country have registered for NEET, which is a pen-and-paper-based test unlike JEE. To maintain social distancing, the NTA has increased the number of centers from 2,546 to 3,843 for the National Income and Eligibility Test (NEET), while the number of candidates per room has been reduced from 24 to 12 earlier.
“To ensure social distancing outside of the exam room, the entry and exit of candidates has been staggered. Appropriate arrangements have also been made outside the exam centers to allow candidates to stand up with social distancing. adequate while they wait, “said a senior NTA official. “Candidates have also been issued a notice advising them on the dos and don’ts to achieve proper social distancing. We have also written to state governments to extend support in the local movement of candidates. so they can get to their examination centers on time, “the official added.
Make hand sanitizers available at the entrance of the exam center and inside the exam room at all times, replacing the process of verifying candidates’ admission cards with barcode scanners, increasing the number of test centers, alternate seating plans, fewer candidates per room, and staggered entry and exit are among the steps the NTA has taken. “While all candidates will be required to go to the examination centers with masks and disinfectants, once they enter the center, they must wear the masks provided by the examining authority.” Each candidate will be offered a three-layer mask at the time of entry and they are expected to wear the same during the exam to avoid any form of unfair means at the time of the exam, “the official added.
While the governments of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have assured students that they will provide transportation, a group of alumni and students from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) has also launched a portal to provide transportation facilities to the centers of exam for candidates who need it. . The Metro Railway in Kolkata plans to offer special services for NEET candidates on September 13 to help them get to their test centers.
“According to the plan, the candidates together with the tutors will be able to board the trains by showing their admission cards,” according to Metro Railway CEO Manoj Joshi. There has been a growing chorus for postponing tests amid the growing number of COVID-19 cases. The Supreme Court had previously dismissed a petition to postpone the two exams amid a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases, saying that a “precious year” of students cannot be wasted and that life must go on.
Several opposition leaders, including Congressional Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik, DMK President MK Stalin, and Delhi’s Chief Deputy Minister Manish Sisodia also demanded that exams were postponed. With just days left until the JEE exams began, the issue had turned into a full-blown political battle with the ministers of Rajasthan and Punjab (Congress), West Bengal (Trinamool Congress), Jharkhand (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), Maharashtra (Party of the Nationalist Congress and Shiv Sena) seeking the postponement of the examinations “in a way that would achieve the dual objective of ensuring that the students’ academic year is not wasted and their health and safety is not compromised.”
They filed a petition in high court to review their order to take the 2020 JEE and NEET UG entrance tests during the novel coronavirus crises. However, the motive was dismissed by the Supreme Court. The NEET-UG was originally scheduled for May 3, but was postponed to July 26 and then scheduled for September 13.
(With PTI inputs)
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