JEE, NEET Exams: Time To Listen Students' Mann Ki Baat
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Once again the feud between the students and the central government has been doing rounds. But this time it is for conducting the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Main and the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) amid the coronavirus pandemic that has turned everyone's lives upside down. Despite the students' protests on the social media to postpone the exams amid the rising cases in the country, the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the exams, has refused to postpone them.
More than 15 lakh have registered for NEET out of 8 lakh JEE (Main) aspirants, 6.5 lakh students have already downloaded their admit cards as of now. Though the petition was filed by many of these students, the Supreme Court has also dismissed the students' plea. "Ultimately life has to go on and the career of the students cannot be put on peril for long and a full academic year cannot be wasted", it had said in spite of the fact that over 4,000 students called for a day-long hunger strike online with the hashtags #PostponeJEEAndNEET and #StudentsLivesMatter being trending on Twitter for a few days now.
Why tests are important?
In India, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) tests are considered as one of the main competitive tests that determine the fate of millions of India's students every year with the NEET is for medical colleges, the JEE is for engineering colleges. India generates millions of engineering and doctor graduates but these are the toughest exams to crack. The students, on the other hand, also get into coaching institutes to prepare for these exams.
If someone scores with amazing marks they will admission in a reputed college like Indian Institutes of Technology, widely seen as the country's best engineering schools. If someone lands into such college and become IITian, then they can be placed in top companies of the world like Google.
Why students are calling for the postponement of these entrance exams?
First, of all, assuming that all the guidelines issued by the Education Ministry will be followed in a proper manner, however, there will be always risk of spread of the virus among the number of students appearing for the exams. The risk of infection is too real in enclosed spaces like examination halls for students, which will, in turn, their family members. Secondly, another major concern is travelling. Given the travelling restrictions, it is highly impossible to take risk and travel to the centres which are far away from their homes, villages, etc.
The Ministry need to also consider that various states in the Northeast and others like Bihar are currently suffering from a spate of floods and other natural disasters, which has disrupted their daily lives. These students belonging to these states can neither write their exams online nor travel long distances. And what about the students who have already tested positive?
What does the government say?
The NTA has said that it has already postponed the exams many times this year, but it can no longer reschedule them. It has issued the SOPs to conduct the exams safely. It said that safety measures are being taken care of, from sanitising the examination centres before and after the exams to providing masks and gloves for students. Other arrangements include staggered entry, temperature checks and social distancing inside and outside the centres. It said it has also increased the number of exam centres so fewer students sit the exams in each one.
However, there is no guarantee that it will not alleviate these problems and these SOPs have already failed to work in the exams conducted earlier in the year. For e.g the SOPs to maintain social distancing at centres failed during Kerala and Karnataka state examinations.
What did the politicians say?
Along with students who have appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to postpone the exams, politicians have also wriiten letter to him or called on to reschedule them. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to PM Modi urging the Central Government to consider filing a review petition in the Supreme Court over the dates of NEET and JEE examinations.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also dialled PM Modi to call off the exams. "Whenever NTA holds these tests, it may be directed to open centres in all the 30 districts of the State so that students have to travel maximum 2-3 hours to reach the test centres and go back home the same day and thus ensure maximum participation of the students in these tests."
Even the Swedish climate activist Great Thunberg has said, "It's deeply unfair that students of India are asked to sit national exams during the COVID-19 pandemic and while millions have also been impacted by the extreme floods. I stand with their call to #PostponeJEE_NEETinCOVID."
Major events were postponed or cancelled including the Tokyo Olympics 2020, however, these exams are not. The JEE (Main) will be held from September 1 to 6 and NEET (UG) on September 13.