The JEE Main and NEET examinations which are scheduled to be held in September, have been opposed by students and parents alike. A letter written by the India Wide Parents’ Association have been sent to the government, requesting the postponement of the examinations. The association is now planning to move the Supreme Court if they don’t receive any “positive” response from the government.
IWPA chief Anubha Srivastava Sahai told India TV, “We are moving Supreme Court with demand to postpone JEE, NEET exams if we do not get any response from the ministry.”
We are moving ahead to SC for JEE NEET matter after not getting any positive response from HRD and NTAhttps://t.co/z1b0qIZyCc
Join this group to support Students in SC@nidhiindiatv @Iamtssudhir @barandbench @LiveLawIndia
— Adv Anubha Shrivastava Sahai (@anubha1812) August 5, 2020
The engineering entrance is scheduled to take place from September 1 to 6 while the medical entrance is slated for September 13. Earlier, the exams were scheduled to be held in July but were deferred after the Education Ministry took into account concerns raised by the students.
In a letter addressed to the Health Ministry and Education Ministry, Srivastava cited several reasons for the postponement of the examinations. It stated “exponential” growth in the number of the Covid-19 infections in India.
The letter read, “At the time of announcement of postponement of the exams, new cases were around 22-23K daily, however, since then the situation has worsened and cases have breached the 55K mark.”
Almost 10 lakh students are set to appear for JEE and 16 lakh for NEET. A total of over 25 lakh candidates will be will have to appear at the exam centres, some of whom will be accompanied by parents. Hence, there will be a huge crowd and naturally social distance norms will take a backseat.
Students who have to use public transport to reach the exam centres will pose a greater risk of contracting the coronavirus. Besides, the number of exam centres are quite less than required, which could make it tricky for social distancing norms to be followed in the exam centres. Bihar has only 7 centers for JEE Main and for NEET, there are centers in only 2 districts, which might pose a risk to the students.
Furthermore, inside the exam centres, there could be various other complications like using of same thumbprint scanner, same seats for face verification, crowded computer rooms, less distance between fixed-unmovable seats and limited number of computers.
Source: India TV
Read: Students start online campaign on postponement of JEE, NEET 2020