Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenage climate activist came in support of students and parents who are protesting against JEE and NEET entrance exams given the surge in COVID-19 cases.
Taking it to Twitter, the activist wrote, “It’s deeply unfair that students of India are asked to sit national exams during the Covid-19 pandemic and while millions have also been impacted by the extreme floods. I stand with their call to #PostponeJee_NEETinCOVID”
It’s deeply unfair that students of India are asked to sit national exams during the Covid-19 pandemic and while millions have also been impacted by the extreme floods. I stand with their call to #PostponeJEE_NEETinCOVID
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) August 25, 2020
The Supreme Court on August 17, dismissed a petition seeking the postponement of the NEET and JEE scheduled to be held in September 2020. The National Testing Agency (NTA) has announced that the JEE (Main) will be held from September 1 to 6 and NEET (UG) on September 13.
Recently, over 4,000 students observed a day-long hunger strike to press for the demand given rising coronavirus cases. Using the #SATYAGRAHagainstExamInCovid, students took to Twitter to urge the government to heed to their demands.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had also appealed from the Central government to cancel medical and engineering entrance exams JEE and NEET because of surging COVID cases in the country. Following that, many political leaders including Subramaniam Swamy, Rahul Gandhi, Uddhav Thackeray, Mamata Banerjee, et al, have asked Centre to postpone exams.
National Testing Agency, NTA in reply to the requests made to postpone NEET, JEE Main 2020 exam dates has released a response, clarifiying that the examinations cannot be further delayed, as per the orders of the Supreme Court. NTA has also released detailed safety guidelines that would be followed at the examination centres.
