Education

Trust Deficit is at the heart of the demand to postpone JEE and NEET

Over the past many days, several JEE and NEET aspirants have been mounting a strident campaign demanding that the two big-ticket entrance exams scheduled in September be postponed. That’s because they feel it is not safe for them to venture out of home to the exam centres and take these exams amidst the Covid pandemic. 10 lakh students will take the JEE (for admission to IITs and NITs) while over 16 lakh will appear for the NEET, which is the entrance exam to medical colleges in India.Β 

Also read : The Inside Story of the Petitions

In the legal space, this campaign has been in the form of a petition in the Supreme Court seeking postponement – this is coming up on 17 August for its first hearing. However, there are reportedly four  counter petitions as well, that are demanding the conduct of the exam on schedule. In the virtual space, students claim there have been close to a million tweets and retweets demanding postponement and hundreds of email written to the Supreme Court. 

On its part, the National Testing Agency (NTA) that conducts both JEE Mains and NEET, has said it is committed to conducting the exam and that all Standard Operating Procedures will be followed in letter and spirit. In an interview to Filter Kaapi YouTube channel this week, Dr Vineet Joshi, himself an alumni of IIT Kanpur, said every decision will be taken in the best academic interests of the students. 

Then why are many students spending more time on different forms of social media than on their preparation? These are the reasons.

1. With 65000 cases being reported everyday since 7 August and India crossing the 25 lakh mark, a sense of panic has set in. That any exposure to the outside world, particularly where so many students and parents will be assembled, is fraught with risk. 

2. The authorities who conducted the Karnataka Common Entrance Test and the B.Ed entrance exam in Uttar Pradesh did not cover themselves with glory. Social distancing was thrown to the winds at several centres with no discipline maintained outside the exam centres. 

3. Eminent people like former President Pranab Mukherjee, legendary singer SP Balasubrahmanyam have contracted the Corona infection and students ask if those who take sufficient precautions are contracting the virus, how can students who will be in close proximity to hundreds of people on the day of exam be safe. The fact that Lav Agarwal, the Joint Secretary in the Union Health ministry and the face of the government’s fight against Covid, has tested Covid positive, is a point that cannot be missed.

4. Finally, the WHO itself has said now that while Corona infection spreads mainly by droplets from person to person, it can also be through small droplets or aerosols that remain in air for some time and through fomites. Dr Soumya Swamination, Chief Scientist of the WHO put out a tweet in which she cautioned that in closed, crowded settings, aerosol spread could happen and precautions should be taken. “The science is evolving,” she added.

The ball is now in the Supreme Court and it would do well to demand that the authorities have convincing answers to each one of the concerns of the student community. The result of KCET and B.Ed is that there is a trust deficit and it is a gap that needs to be bridged. Monday will hopefully provide us with answers on how the Education ministry and the NTA hopes to achieve that. 

31 replies »

  1. We need Postpone.. save our lives.. appa….. Save usπŸ™πŸΌπŸ™πŸΌπŸ™πŸΌπŸ™πŸΌπŸ™πŸΌ

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  2. The entrance examinations are bound to be postponed due to the constant rising of the COVID-19 cases & besides, India is being ranked as the 1ST in the number of CORONA AFFECTED people EVERYDAY. Students’ lives and health are far more important than the exams because if a student gets AFFECTED, then maybe his/her current academic year may be ruined.

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  3. Yes exam again postponed because in India cases increases day by day if NTA take responsibility then we are ready to give examination

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    • Yes…..health is more important than the exams. Exams may come the next year too, but health, if it’s gone then what is the use of been at home till now and being safe from this pandemic. Hope that the Supreme Court and NTA take the most appropriate decision.

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  4. are they taking the gurantee that not even a single student will get cororna and that they will bear all the expenses of treatment?..
    even ex AIIMS and IIT directors (more intelligent than them all) have said that sky wont fall if exams are postponed….
    what about the students who are corona positive and quarantined and some whose family memebers are positive they are mentally disturbed right now,students affected by floods, no SOPs during transport and numerous other problems…HEALTH OVER EXAM as simple as that….somebody please explain it to these heartless power corrupts!!

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  5. they ask what is the gurantee that we will not ask for postponement again
    reply: If CORONA cases will be lesser than what it is now …dont postpone it again that time
    If they say that they have already postponed it twice then let me remind them that the reason for which they postponed it last time is still prevalent..CORONA at its peak and no VACCINE here in INDIA…so be as mindful as you were last time …
    larger interest of students lies in their health and safety…HEALTH OVER EXAMS..as simple as that

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  6. The essence of fruit lies in being fresh….Nta …..not even thinking to postpone now, it is filled up with people wanting ‘no postponement’ ….dont know the reason but I think NTA after preparing/planning the STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE since april 2020 just want to get into doing action.

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  7. Please postpone neet & jeeπŸ™πŸΌπŸ™πŸΌπŸ™πŸΌπŸ™πŸΌπŸ™πŸΌπŸ™πŸΌπŸ™πŸΌπŸ™πŸΌ

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  8. We all should need to come to the fact that this Covid 19 is gonna to stay with us for long. Till how long, should we bury our heads in the sand, and keep postponing the exam?
    Being a parent of an aspirant, I’ve seen that how much midnight oil is being burnt by students, counting each day for the exam etc.
    Now a days, being a doctor, I continue to think the worst case scenario, if at all, any aspirant contracts the infection, he or she will, at the most, get away with fever, influenza like symptomatology that will go away with symptomatic treatment, may need at the most 15 to 20 days of isolation etc. The best part of the story is that they are not vulnerable unlike the elderlies with co-morbidities!
    Should not the life move forward, with a way out, with appropriate precautions?
    It is also worth pointing out that those who joined the bandwagon of postponement are usually those who have not studied hard, not fatigued themselves through sheer studies. Alas, those who are for the exam, their number is always going too be small, as it them, who are bearing the real brunt of this postponement, compared to the cacophony of the majority!

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    • well said dr umakant ji even my child is undergoing the same mental pressure as they are studying from long time of about 2 years,
      1. No one can predict how long it will take for the case load to come down totally.
      2. The parents of children seeking postponement also must be going to work places, if that is the case then what guarantee is there that the parent or family do not get infected, are all the parents staying at home and working or are the children stopping their parents to abstain from work.
      3. This figure of 16lakh people plus 8lakh people for both entrance tests is across the country and all are not congregating at one place or centre. One should remember that the total 24lakhs are spread across different states and different exam centres.
      4. The children have raised the issue of floods in some states, iam sure no one can predict 15 or 30 days in advance the situation on exam date. The situation regarding floods may be looked into by authorities at that point of time.
      5. NTA has also given chance to examinees to choose the centres of their choice also.
      6. last but not the least, some of the degree colleges and professional degree colleges have started their admission process and most of them may take admission as Plan B and will loose interest on the entrance itself, allready they are facing fatigue. The sooner the entrance will be held, the children as well as parents can be free regarding date of exam and move forward.

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    • Totally agree…and how long.?whats the guarantee that in December its going to be anything better than this?What about the 13th students they have already taken year drop and cant stake one more year.Ahood mask s,ocial distancing is whats its required…and with meticuloua planning can be arranged…..
      Do not postpone

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    • Why ain’t the government listening to majority of the students who are raising there voice against postponement?? Is this what we students are supposed to be going through in this Pandemic situation??
      Where the prominent figures of our country are getting affected by Corona despite of staying in sanitized environment, we students are forced to go out and give exams where no social distancing norms are followed as we have witnessed this on the previous exams that were conducted.
      It’s a humble request to the authority to postpone the entrance exams and save the students as well as the parents from getting infected.
      Yours sincerely,
      A student.

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  9. We cannot take such a huge risk by entering ourselves in an unsafe environment.
    The exams should be postponed until December for the safe and sound conduction of the exams.

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  10. Totally agree…and how long.?whats the guarantee that in December its going to be anything better than this?What about the 13th students they have already taken year drop and cant stake one more year.Ahood mask s,ocial distancing is whats its required…and with meticuloua planning can be arranged…..
    Do not postpone

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  11. Postpone of the exam forther will not be the solution right now, many of the students are working hard to through entrance exams for a long time
    That are young and capable to fight against deadly corona with hard immunity+mask+social distantceing norms .
    So let the exam to held with more number of days with minimum number of students

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  12. It is not Trust Deficit — it is an excuse from hard work. The day malls will open all these fearful would be out partying. Holding the country to ransom. Ridiculous. What if all doctors and covid warriors also feel afraid and stop serving.

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  13. The exams are just for a couple of hours, so it should be conducted with safety measures. Students will lose interest age etc. This pandemic is here to live with us so life must go on. Apart from the authorities taking safety measures we also must be responsible citizens to take care of ourselves instead of blaming & waiting for postponement.

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  14. Those who are feared about pandemic situation do not peruse the exam let others attend peacefully, there should not be any further postponed, some are giving excuses that we are preparing from last three years by conducting we won’t be able to attend and one more year will be waist, such guys to be amplified by postponed too in continuation year will not wait tn also it ll be waist only, students are playing football 🏈 and other games in ground with huge gathering, so this is unjustified cause, such kind of students cum parents not only wasting there time but they wish to spoil others too, hence requesting contact NEET on given schedule though who are afraid of COVID-19 please apply for next year NEET 2021 till that they could secure themselves

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  15. The present scenario of India is known by everyone but then too they want to keep these exams. The responsibility of government is to protect their future generation (All aspirants appearing for JEE and NEET).I think they doesn’t matter the health of students .If they keep these entrance and someone (student) got affected then will the government take responsibility of the student?will they protect the student’s carrier ruining?I think government should read these comments inorder to know what the young generation is wanting?

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