Amid concerns over holding JEE and NEET exams in September despite the pandemic situation, IIT Kharagpur Director Virendra Kumar Tewari has said conducting these exams is crucial since admissions to premier institutes like IITs and top medical colleges will not be possible otherwise.
Urging students to put their faith in the organising bodies who have been working tirelessly to offer a safe environment to hold the exams in the current situation, Tewari said in a Facebook post on Wednesday, “Necessary facilities have been arranged for the students to ensure social distancing, hygiene protocols and even facilitation for probable asymptomatic cases.”
Mentioning that he was aware of the apprehensions of aspiring students, he said, “I urge the aspirants to take it up as a challenge and show their mettle and sincerity to the world….to take it as an opportunity to adapt to the new normal and strive for a brighter future.”
The JEE (Main) and the NEET (undergraduate) meant for admissions to engineering and medical colleges, respectively are scheduled for the first half of September.
While the Joint Entrance Exam (Main) is slated between September 1 and September 6, the National Eligibility and Entrance Test will be held on September 13.
Tewari added, “A quick alternative to JEE Mains and JEE Advanced will certainly not be as gratifying as competing for this examination by all fair means. Also it could be misused as a precedent to dilute the entire admission process to the IIT system which may prove to be harmful for the quality of undergraduate education at the IITs.”
At a meeting convened by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on a range of issues ahead of Monsoon Session of Parliament, seven chief ministers of non-BJP ruled states on Wednesday unanimously agreed to the need for filing a review petition urging the Supreme Court to reconsider its recent order rejecting the postponement of the competitive exams.
PTI
