NEET 2021: Why students want NTA to postpone medical entrance test

NEW DELHI: The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, (NEET 2021) for admission to undergraduate medicine is scheduled for August 1, 2021. The registration for NEET 2021 has not commenced yet at ntaneet.nic.in. At the same time, India is reporting more than 3 lakh COVID cases every single day. Several states have imposed lockdown and curfews and postponed exams. Many candidates are already making demands for postponing NEET 2021.

Last year, over 15 lakh students had registered of whom 13,66,945 appeared for the exam. Now, it is expected that millions of students may appear for NEET 2021 on exam day. Considering COVID-19 updates across the nation, students demand that the conducting body, National Testing Agency (NTA) postpones NEET 2021 exam. However, there's no official confirmation from NTA regarding NEET 2021 postponement.

The students demands have been buttressed by the cancellation and postponement of board exams. After the Central Board of Secondary Education's CBSE board exams, various state boards, including Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha have postponed Class 12 exams. Along with this, CBSE, Haryana Board class 10 exam and several other senior secondary exams have been cancelled.

"If the Board exam is postponed, I think about neet freshers how we can practice mock tests and revise class 11 and 12." tweeted a NEET aspirant

#postponeneetug2021
if the Board exam postponed, I think about neet freshers how we can practice mock test and revise class 11 and 12.

— JAYAM CHESS (@JAYAMCHESS) April 14, 2021

Then, various states have implemented lockdown and night curfew which is a hassle for students having to travel to exam centres. Despite the increase in NEET exam centres to 3,862, they are not available in every district. Travel further increases the risk of infection.

A NEET aspirant tweeted “As board exams are scheduled late and it will finish only in July and NEET on August 1. It will be an injustice to students studying in 12 as they get only a few days for their preparation.”

As board exams scheduled late . It will finish only in july. And neet on august 1It will be an injustice to students studying in 12 as they get only a few days for their preparation#postponeneetUG2021

— Sravan (@Sravan44158366) April 20, 2021

Subhajit Ghosh, another medical aspirant requested that NTA postpone NEET UG 2021 for the COVID-19 situation.

We Are Requesting Sir Must be POSTPONE NEET UG 2021 Exams For This Covid 19 Situation #NoExamInCovid #postponeneetUG2021 @nidhiindiatv @EduMinOfIndia @DrRPNishank @PMOIndia

— Subhajit Ghosh (@Subhaji67305476) April 21, 2021

Major states like Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat are the worst-hit with the most number of active cases, followed by Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi. Students expect NTA to consider these before holding NEET 2021.

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