The National Testing Agency is set to conduct Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main for the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and other engineering colleges from today.
In a video message, Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on Monday appealed to the chief ministers of all States to cooperate in smooth conduct of the exams and also provide transport facility to the candidates to be appearing for the entrance test.
“I hope they will extend their support,” he said.
Pokhriyal said that the JEE Main is being conducted keeping students future in mind.
“Almost all the students (who had registered for the exams) have downloaded their admit cards. They are excited to take their exams,” he added.
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In a separate video message, the education minister appealed to the students to follow the Covid-19 safety guidelines issued by the Union government.
“I have personally spoken to several chief ministers and appealed all of the chief ministers with regard to the conduct of the exams. They have given assurance of their cooperation and support. Take your exams confidently," he said, adding “In case of any difficulty, you can dial on the helpline numbers for help any time.”
The government goes ahead with its decision to conduct the JEE-main exams in various shifts from September 1 to September 6, even as a petition filed by six Opposition-ruled States continues seeking review of the Supreme Court’s order in favour of holding the exams continues to remain pending with the apex court.
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According to sources in the NTA, over 7.77 lakh students have downloaded their admit cards to take the exams. A total of 8.58 lakh students had registered for the entrance test.
Various groups of students, backed by the Opposition parties, had been demanding postponement of the JEE-Main in view of the covid-19 situation in the country.
According to NTA officials, before the start of each exam shift and after the last shift ends, all seats will be thoroughly sanitised and the work stations and keyboards will be disinfected.
"Hand sanitisers will be available at the entrance of the examination centre and inside the exam hall at all times. The usual process of checking the admit cards of candidates will be replaced with barcode readers, which have been made available to the examination centre authorities," an official said.
According to the NTA, the candidates will have to clear thermal scans before entering the exam halls. The entrance to the exam centre will be staggered and there will be "isolation rooms" for candidates whose body temperature is above a prescribed limit.
"While all the candidates will be asked to go to the exam centres with masks and sanitisers, once they enter the centre, they will have to use the masks provided by the examination authority. Each candidate will be offered a 3-ply mask at the time of entry and expected to wear the same during the examination in order to avoid any form of unfair means at the time of examination," the official said.
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There have been demands from several students and parents to further postpone the entrance exams in view of the increasing number of coronavirus cases.
The JEE-Main was originally scheduled to be held from April 7-11, but was postponed to July 18-23, the NEET-UG was originally scheduled for May 3, but was pushed to July 26. They were postponed again and are now scheduled in September.
Based on the results of the JEE-Mains Paper 1 and Paper 2, the top 2.45 lakh candidates will be eligible to appear for the JEE-Advanced exam, which is a one-stop exam to get admission into the 23 premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). JEE-Advanced is scheduled to take place on September 27.
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(With PTI Inputs)
