S. Vishnu Sharma
NEET and JEE Mains 2020, plea filed in the Supreme Court to postpone these two well-known exams has been dismissed.
Sources say the bench in Supreme Court hearing the plea related to NEET and JEE Mains 2020 said postponement of the exams will put the future of the students in peril.
NEET and JEE Mains 2020
Bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra heard the plea filed in the Supreme Court in the recent past seeking postponement of NEET and JEE Mains 2020.
What does this say? This only means NEET and JEE Mains 2020 will be held as per the earlier planned schedule. Sources say that both the popular exams will be held adhering to more precautions.
The petition filed in the Supreme Court only shows the members of general public are only divided when it comes to conducting NEET and JEE Mains 2020.
It is divided between the groups that want NEET and JEE Mains 2020 to be conducted and not to be held. This year has not been a smooth sailing for the education sector in India.
It all began with protests over Citizenship Amendment Act and ended with outbreak of corona virus, says T. Marimuthu, a veteran educationist.
CAA protests led to postponement of CBSE board exams for 10th and 12th standard. The outbreak led to halt of many other exams including that of graduate and post graduate examinations, he said.
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NEET and JEE Mains 2020 exams were also postponed. Though dates were announced for many exams at a later stage, they could not be conducted as lockdown left no room for it.
State boards and CBSE had to pass the students of 10th and 12th classes based on a different assessment system.
Amidst all this Union Minister for Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank made an announcement with regards to dates of NEET and JEE Mains 2020.
While NEET UG 2020 will be conducted on 13 September, JEE Mains 2020 will be held in the same month from 1 to 6.
Even notification issued by National Testing Agency (NTA) that conducts the exam mentioned these dates.
However this announcement did not go well with people, particularly those who felt atmosphere in the country was not safe for conducting the exam amidst the present outbreak of corona virus did not take the announcement of dates for NEET and JEE Mains 2020 with enthusiasm.
What would happen if exams are conducted right now? When the corona virus is yet to subside, will it be safe for students to come and write the exams, asks Manish Chandra, a final year post graduate history student.
Manish is perhaps among those who donot want the exams, but there are enough number of people who want NEET and JEE Mains 2020 exams to be conducted.
Rajesh Kumar Sharma, a maths teacher at an IIT coaching centre says postponing NEET and JEE Mains 2020 will only affect the forthcoming exams.
If these exams are postponed how then are we to decide the eligibility of these students to enter the abodes of higher learning? Asks Rajesh.
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Meanwhile couple of others have pointed towards KEAM exam. This exam was successfully conducted in Kerala recently, says M. Krishnamurthy, a physics teacher.
The same state could also conduct exams for 10th and 12th standard students successfully. If this can happen, then even NEET and JEE Mains 2020 can also be conducted successfully, he says.
Coming back to the courtroom, Justice Arun Mishra who was hearing the plea to postpone exams said there are already two petitions, while one seeks to conduct NEET and JEE Mains 2020 exams, the other seeks to cancel them.
Justice Mishra said the life has to move on even in COVID-19 times. Can we stop exams? He asked and said life has to move on.
He further said if exams are not held, will it not be a loss to the country? As students will lose the academic year.
On the other hand, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who appeared for NTA said exams must be conducted and informed that more precautions will be taken.
Meanwhile, advocate Alakh said vaccine for COVID-19 could come soon, even Prime Minister said about this in his speech on 15 August. What we are seeking is a postponement for sometime.
The petition was dismissed saying that postponement of NEET and JEE Mains 2020 will put the future of students in peril.
NEET is an exam taken by students who pass plus-two to seek admission in medical colleges across the nation to study graduation in medicine.
JEE Mains is also written by plus-two to seek admission into graduate engineering courses in prestigious institutes like IIITs, NITs.
While NEET UG 2020 has received over 14 lakh applications, JEE Mains 2020 has received over 9 lakh applications.