A plethora of tweets seeking clarification on the soon-approaching JEE Main and NEET Exams 2020 have taken over social media. As the ongoing coronavirus situation in the country continues unabated, students are demanding that the key medical and engineering entrance tests be postponed to avoid any health risks. JEE, NEET and all university-based competitive exams are conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which functions under the HRD Ministry. JEE Main, applicable for admission to NITs, IIITs and CFTIs, is scheduled to be held from July 18 to July 23 while the NEET-UG examination for admission to MBBS/BDS courses, is slated for July 26. Over 15 lakh students had applied for NEET 2020 while nearly 9 lakh for JEE Main.
As the entrance exams are inching closer, students are hoping for a clearer picture, particularly after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) cancelled Class 10 and Class 12 Board exams scheduled between July 1-July 15. In its submission before the Supreme Court, the board had said that no more examinations will be held for Class 10 students, however, an option was rolled out for Class 12 students. They were given an option to be either assessed on the basis of the previous examinations or take exams when the situation is conducive. The CBSE has also cancelled Central Teachers Eligibility Test (CTET) which was scheduled to take place on July 5.
JEE and NEET aspirants have been raising concerns on social media over holding of the examinations. Some are sceptical about social distancing at examination centres while the others are worried about the situation that may emanate post the exams.
"If JEE and NEET is conducted in July then what about those students are COVID positive, those students who are in quarantine, those students whose centres/homes are in red zone, those who get COVID positive after exams," Dev, a student wrote on Twitter.
"Please postpone NEET further to September, or please clarify the situation once," Sahil Kumar Sharma, another student said.
"I am from a village area, my town is full of corona patients, buses are already shutoff, and now trains are also cancelled. How can I reach the exam center. Too much mental stress," Prabhat Kumar Biswas, a NEET aspirant expressed concern.
"We all know that precaution is better than cure. If we have the opportunity right now..we should not delay it. There is no guarantee whether the situation will improve or not so cancellation of JEE Mains exam is the only solution to cope up," a user wrote on Twitter.
'Around 30 lakh students are going to attend JEE and NEET combined, due to which there will be a lot of crowd outside the exam centres. Maintaining social distancing inside the centres might be helpful but what about the crowd outside. The crowd outside also includes parents, guardians, staff and security. This crowd may contain many aged people and others with respiratory illnesses. One corona patient is enough to create a hotspot at these centers," one Jaydeep Thakor wrote on Twitter.
The HRD ministry earlier announced that the NTA (National Testing Agency) launched a Abhyas App, where students can undertake mock exams. The NTA Abhyas App also provides mock test options in Hindi. Launched on May 19 by HRD Minister RP Nishank, the APP helps students prepare for JEE (Mains) and NEET.
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