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The | New Delhi |
Updated: May 7, 2020 11:17:05 am
The National Testing Agency (NTA), The Indian Express She learned that the Ministry of Human Resources asked her to double the number of test centers to maintain social distance during the exam.
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Following government instructions, the NTA now plans to locate two candidates two meters away, which, in other words, means that it will need approximately 6,000 test centers, compared to the 3,000 originally planned, to accommodate 15 lakh applicants. NEET. Until last year, two candidates were generally sitting at a distance of one meter.
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NEET is a written exam on paper and the results are the only criteria for admission to all undergraduate medical programs in the country. Originally scheduled for May 3, NEET will now take place on July 26.
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The number of testing centers for NEET this year, a senior NTA official told this newspaper, will be something of a record. “I doubt if a competitive test was ever conducted at so many centers in one day,” the official said on condition of anonymity, adding that “it will take us a month to identify 3,000 additional test centers for NEET.”
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The NTA generally prefers to make Kendriya Vidyalayas, CBSE-affiliated schools, engineering colleges, and state government colleges (in that order of preference) NEET test centers.
What makes taking NEET in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak more challenging than other entrance exams is that it is a pencil-and-paper test. “(A pencil and paper test) means that I only have one questionnaire and I have to do it in one shift in one day throughout the country. Therefore, I need to double the number of test centers to achieve all of this and follow the rules of social distancing, ”said the NTA official.
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Unlike NEET, the NTA does not have to dramatically increase the number of test centers for JEE (Main), which will take place from July 18-23. JEE (Main), which is the one-stop shop for admission to NITs, is held online and in many shifts over several days.
“We can achieve social distancing by increasing the number of examinations and perhaps adding another 150 to 200 new test centers (to the existing 600) for JEE (Principal),” added the official.
JEE (advanced), the entrance exam for admission to IITs, is currently also taken online in two parts (in two shifts) in a single day. However, IIT-Delhi is unsure whether increasing the number of test centers or the number of shifts is an option for JEE (Advanced).
“The 600 test centers selected by us for JEE (Advanced) are the best of what TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) offers us. We are not sure if we can find more centers with adequate infrastructure, ”JEE President Sidharth Pandey told The Indian Express.
When asked if the IITs were considering maintaining the JEE (Advanced), as JEE (Principal), for a few days to guarantee social distancing, he said: “The novelty of JEE (Advanced) is that all applicants appear for the same Article. I don’t think the IITs agree to establish various documents to take the exam for a few days. “About two lakh candidates, who have passed JEE (Principal), can sit this exam.
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