The Week In Education: NEET PG 2021 deferred; AICTE issues calendar

NEW DELHI: Around six dozen schools in Delhi are now vaccination centres. Around two dozen states had shut schools in March-April as the number of cases of COVID-19 grew sharply and they continue to remain shut. In addition, one of the last boards to postpone its state board exams, Assam, has also done so.

The medical entrance exam for postgraduate courses, NEET PG 2021, stands postponed by four months. The engineering entrance exam, JEE Main 2021’s May session has been postponed as well, announced the exam-conducting body, National Testing Agency (NTA).

Meanwhile, the pandemic continues to ravage schools, colleges, universities across states. In a new series, Careers360 is writing about some of the teachers lost to COVID-19 and the communities they have left behind.

Read More | COVID-19 has claimed hundreds of teachers. These are their stories.

These were the most significant developments in education over the week.

COVID-19: School education, board exams

Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) has postponed Assam Board exams for Classes 10 and 12 until further orders. Earlier, both Assam board Class 10 and 12 exams were scheduled to be held from May 11.

The Delhi Government urged CBSE to review the timeline for compiling Class 10 board exam results since many of its teachers are involved in COVID-19 duties and schools are being used as vaccination centres.

The Orissa High Court quashed a notification of the Odisha School and Mass Education department to shut down nearly 8,000 elementary and primary schools having poor student strength.

The Supreme Court directed private unaided schools of Rajasthan to charge 15 percent less annual fees from students in academic session 2020-21. It also said that results of students should not be held up due to non-payment of fees.

Odisha releases class 10 marks criteria

Odisha Board of Secondary Education (BSE) has fixed modalities to award marks for Class 10 examinations. The Annual High School Certificate (HSC), Madhyama, and State Open School Certificate examinations were canceled due to COVID-19.

Coronavirus: University exams

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed all universities to put offline exams on hold for May due to the rise in COVID-19 cases. Online exams can be held upon assessing local conditions. This came after the Centre had already written to all centrally-funded institutions, including the central universities, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs) to put exams on hold.

AICTE academic calendar

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) issued the new academic calendar for 2021-22. According to it, classes in all technical courses except PGDM (management) will begin on September 15 for first-year students and September 1 for the rest.

The AICTE also directed institutions to not insist on collecting the full fees at once and to not penalise students who fail to do so.

Supreme Court strikes down Maratha Quota

On Wednesday the Supreme Court struck down the Maratha quota in educational institutes and government jobs, terming the law “unconstitutional". The court also refused to refer the 1992 Mandal judgement, that sets a 50 percent cap on the reservation, to a larger bench for reconsideration.

JEE Main 2021: May session

After the April session, the NTA postponed the Joint Entrance Examination-May 2021’s May session as well due to COVID-19. The NTA will announce the JEE Main 2021 April and May dates later.

NEET PG 2021

As part of the measures to bring more medical staff to the fight against COVID-19, the prime minister, Narendra Modi, decided to postpone the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for postgraduates, NEET PG 2021, by four months. The decision was criticised by the doctors’ body, Indian Medical Association.

COVID duty part of compulsory MBBS internship

The National Medical Commission (NMC) this week announced that the duties performed by medical interns for COVID-19 management will be treated as a compulsory MBBS internship. The decision was taken to increase manpower to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

Punjab higher education

Punjab’s chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh constituted a committee to suggest reforms related to examinations and curriculum in higher education institutions in the state. The committee will submit its report within 60 days to the state government.

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