Students in a fix as JEE Main, NDA dates clash
CHANDIGARH: Students desirous of taking both the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Main, organised by the National Testing Agency (NTA), and the National Defence Academy (NDA) exam, conducted by Union Public Service Commission, on September 6 are in a dilemma as the dates and time of the two tests are clashing.
Some students even wrote to NTA, but no communication has been received from their end.
Ravi Kumar of Nayagaon wants to follow in the footsteps of his father and join the Indian Army. “For naval entry and technical entries of army, a good JEE score is required. Many students keep this as a backup in case they don’t clear NDA. I will have no option but to skip the JEE exam, hurting my chances of joining the army later.”
EDUCATION MINISTER HAD ASSURED HELP
In July, education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal had assured students that those with overlapping exams will be accommodated, but now that admit cards have been officially issued, the students are in a dilemma.
Mandeep who hails from Mansa district in Punjab said, “Candidates applying for JEE Main were asked if they were also appearing for the NDA exam. I had checked yes but still I was allotted a date clashing with the NDA exam.” The copies of his admit cards accessed by the Hindustan Times show that Mandeep is supposed to sit for his online JEE Main between 8am to 12pm, and for the written NDA exam between 10am-12:30pm and 2pm-4:30pm.
Anuj Kaushik, another student, said that he had sent two emails to the NTA with copies of his admit cards about a week ago and asked for the date for his JEE Main exam to be changed, but to no avail.
‘4.5 LAKH STUDENTS APPEARING FOR NDA’
Kunal Singh, who runs a coaching institute in Sector 34 for students appearing in both NDA and JEE exams, said, “Nearly 4.5 lakh students will be appearing for the NDA exam. Usually two exams are held in a year, but this year, only one will be held owing to the pandemic. Many students are likely to be affected by this mix-up and they must speak up so that preventive steps can be taken before it is too late.”