‘Delay in NEET, JEE causing anxiety among students’
MUMBAI: The ministry of human resource and development’s (MHRD) decision to postpone the schedule for undergraduate (UG) medical and engineering entrance examinations has left many aspirants and parents anxious and worried. Constant delay in the examination is leaving students with “less enthusiasm and concentration which could, in turn, affect their grades”, said many of them.
The parents and UG medical aspirants had written to MHRD and the National Testing Authority (NTA) against delaying the entrance exam any further than July. “More the exam gets delayed, the more students are worried about their preparation. The examination authority needs to find a way to hold exams virtually, so the online admission process too can start immediately,” said Sudha Shenoy, activist and parent of medical student. MHRD on Friday announced the postponement of the National Eligibility-cum-entrance Test (NEET) for undergraduate medical and dental aspirants as well as Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains for engineering aspirants to September from their original dates in July. The decision came after an expert committee stated that holding competitive exams in July amid the pandemic, will not be feasible
While NEET-UG was scheduled to take place on July 26, the second phase of Jee-mains was slated between July 18 and 23. The first phase of Jee-mains was conducted in January. More than 2.25 lakh students from Jeemains
will be eligible for Jee-advance, which is the one-point entry to the premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITS).
“Most students have spent the last two years of their lives preparing for the entrance exams in the hope of getting through to one of the best medical or engineering institute. This constant delay is leaving students anxious and in a state of panic,” said Anjana Singh, parent of a NEET aspirant.
Over 15 lakh students have registered for NEET 2020, including 2.3 lakh from Maharashtra.
Delay in conducting the entrance exam directly leads to a delay in admissions, say parents. Senior NTA officials have stated that with the entrance exam in mid-september, admissions will begin only in October. While the decision on NEET and JEE is already out, the state common entrance test (CET) cell is yet to announce the new dates for MH-CET exam. New dates will be released soon, said CET officials.