DMK president MK Stalin has written a letter to Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal requesting him to postpone the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) and the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) 2020, till the COVID-19 situation is brought under control.
In his letter, Stalin said, "No decision should be made in haste putting the lives of students at stake. The government should act keeping the well-being and future of students in mind. In the light of the severe difficulties explained above, I sincerely request you to postpone the JEE, NEET until COVID-19 is brought under control."
Stalin in his letter stated, apart from the havoc wreaked by COVID-19, many parts are yet to recover from the recent floods that ravaged people's livelihoods. Students and parents are under enormous mental stress, trying to cope with the testing times.
With the present restrictions on public transport, the allotted exam centres are not uniformly accessible to all and it will not be possible for students belonging to rural areas and less-privileged sections to reach the exam centres. They will be put under a great disadvantage against their affluent counterparts, he added.
"This was evident from the fact that around 35,000 students could not appear for the HSC examination conducted by the Tamil Nadu government on March 24, 2020. According to reports, around 25 lakh students are expected to sit for this year's NEET and JEE," Stalin wrote.
While around 25 lakh students are expected to sit for this years NEET and JEE, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has made it mandatory for the students to give an undertaking that they are neither COVID-19 positive nor have any symptoms for the same. However, in light of the fact that most of the infected population in India remains asymptomatic, demanding a self-declaration from the students does not seem to be effective.
If those appearing for the exams contract the virus, there are high possibilities of witnessing another wave of infections across the country, he added.
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