As the coronavirus cases crossed the 6.25 Lakh mark, Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ announced via twitter on Friday that JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) and NEET (National Eligibility and Entrance Test) have been postponed to September. ?
Both of these national-level entrance examinations used to take place in April-May when the circumstances were normal but were then rescheduled to July due to the outbreak of global coronavirus pandemic. It was earlier announced that NEET will be held on 2th of July and that JEE (Mains) was scheduled to take place between 18th and 23rd July. This decision has further been amended.
Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ mentioned in his tweet that the NEET exam will now be held on 13th September, while the JEE Main will take place between 1st to 6th September, and the JEE Advanced will be held on 27th September.
This comes after rising demands by students (especially those residing in Delhi and Mumbai where the rise in cases has been the highest) to postpone the examinations. Online petitions and campaigns regarding postponement had been gaining momentum.
A committee comprising of members of the NTA (National Testing Agency) sat down to discuss the future course of action of these exams and arrived at the conclusion that they must be postponed to September, keeping the circumstances in mind.
NEET is conducted by the NTA each year for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate medical courses in India. In 2019, qualifying NEET was made mandatory to pursue MBBA abroad. Additionally, NEET has already been made mandatory (since 2016) for pursuing a degree in medicine in India, at both government or private institutes. As a matter of fact, sources reveal that parents of more than 4,000 non-residential Indian students had filed a petition in the Supreme Court regarding postponing the NEET exam, as there are no centres outside India and international travel is currently restricted.
JEE is also conducted by NTA and is held twice a year in two stages- Mains and Advance. Admission to premier engineering colleges including the IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) is based on the JEE rank.
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