The Joint Entrance Examination (Main) exam for admission to top engineering colleges in the country commenced on Tuesday. The exam had earlier been postponed twice in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly 9.58 lakh aspirants had registered for the exam, which is being conducted across 660 testing centres. The JEE (Main) is conducted for admission to engineering courses in IITs, NITs and Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs), the score of which is also used by various state and private engineering colleges.
The JEE (Main) was originally scheduled to be held from April 7-11, but was postponed to July 18-23. It was postponed again till September.
Meanwhile, several states like Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh governments have assured the aspirants free transportation. In addition, Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had also appealed to chief ministers to support the candidates.
“I appeal to chief ministers of all states to support our students in such unprecedented circumstances and make appropriate arrangements so the aspirants do not have to face any inconvenience. I also appeal to students to have faith in agencies behind the conduct of the examination,” said Pokhriyal.
According to Vineet Joshi, director-general, National Testing Agency, a comprehensive standard operating procedure for the candidates and centre staff has been put in place to ensure social distancing and secured delivery of the test.
There has been demand for further postponing of the JEE (main) and medical entrance exam NEET-UG amid rising Covid-19 cases.
The JEE (Main) is conducted for admission to engineering courses in IITs, NITs and Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs), the score of which is also used by various state and private engineering colleges.
SOPs and guidelines for JEE aspirants
- The number of aspirants per room has been brought down to 12 from 24 for the computer-based test and the computers used in the first shift of the day will not be used in the second shift
- Staggered entry and exit, not allowing the gathering of parents/guardians near the centre will help in crowd management and social distancing
- Before the start of each shift and after the last shift ends, all seats, including the workstation and keyboards will be disinfected. The complete centre, its walls, toilets and doors will also be thoroughly sanitised
- Hand sanitisers will be available at the entrance of the examination centre and inside the exam hall
- The usual process of checking the admit cards of candidates will be replaced with barcode readers
- Even though the candidates are being asked to come to the test centres with masks and sanitisers, at the centre they will have to use the masks provided by the examination authority
- Each candidate will be offered a three-ply mask at the time of entry and is expected to wear the same during the examination
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