The Week In Education: Opposing JEE Main, NEET 2020 and UGC wins

by R. Radhika and Abhay Anand

NEW DELHI: Another week was spent on the pros and cons of holding exams during a pandemic. The week India became the country to record the highest single-day increase in COVID-19 positive cases, the opposition to holding the engineering and medical entrance exams, JEE Main and NEET 2020 grew to a fever-pitch and the Supreme Court decided that students cannot be awarded degrees without writing their final-year exams. The University Grants Commission (UGC) and its July 6 guidelines won.

On the entrance exams, tensions rose with the release of NEET 2020 admit card on Wednesday. Many students, opposing the examination burnt their admit cards to mark their protest. Students argued that the number of downloads does not indicate their willingness to appear for the exam.

A day before the Union education minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ told DD news that 85 percent of JEE aspirants have downloaded their admit cards. The JEE Main admit card was released on August 17.

Pokhriyal, on Thursday, again justified conducting the exams to avoid “spoiling” of students’ future. He further said that 6.84 lakh candidates (out of a total of 15.97 lakh) had downloaded NEET admit card within the first five hours of its release. The national-level entrance tests for engineering and medicine have a combined registration of around 25 lakh candidates and will be administered by the National Testing Agency.

These were the main developments of the week.

States against NEET 2020, JEE Main 2020

After the dismissal of a Public Interest Litigation by 11 students, cabinet ministers of six states filed a review petition against Supreme Court’s earlier judgement on conducting NEET 2020 and JEE Main.

The review petition argued that “a grave and irreparable harm will befall on the student community” if the exams are conducted on the stipulated dates. It further asked the court to consider the public health at large.

Earlier, seven chief ministers of non-BJP ruled had decided to jointly move the Supreme Court. The meeting was attended by West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, Maharashtra’s Uddhav Thackeray, Punjab's Amarinder Singh, Jharkhand's Hemant Soren, Rajasthan's Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh's Bhupesh Baghel and Puducherry's V Narayanasamy.

The chief minister of Odisha, Naveen Pattnaik also spoke to PM Narendra Modi. Besides the rising number of coronavirus cases, Odisha is also facing floods which can cause difficulties for students to reach the exam centre.

CM @Naveen_Odisha spoke to Prime Minister @narendramodi over telephone and requested him for postponement of #NEET and #JEE Main Exam in view of #COVID19 pandemic and severe flood situation in many parts of #Odisha.

— CMO Odisha (@CMO_Odisha) August 27, 2020

Members of Congress-affiliated National Students’ Union of India began an indefinite hunger strike demanding exam postponement.

Lack of transport facilities to reach examination centres, fear of contracting COVID-19, and writing exams while wearing masks and hand gloves are some of the concerns being raised by NEET and JEE-Mains aspirants who want the exams to be postponed amid the pandemic.

NEET 2020, JEE Main 2020: More exam centres

Amid the furore, the NTA has issued elaborate safety protocols to conduct the exams with steps like increasing the number of examination centres, alternate seating plan, fewer candidates per room and staggered entry and exit. For JEE Main, 90 and for NEET, 1,297 new exam centres have been added.

Supreme Court on UGC Exam Guidelines: Exams mandatory

The Supreme Court of India finally ended the suspense over final year university examinations this week as it has ruled that students cannot be promoted or granted degrees without exams. In its verdict, SC upheld the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) July 6 exam-related guidelines, which asked universities to compulsory hold final-year exams.

However, the SC also stated that the state governments can ask the UGC for extension of the deadline for holding exams. The apex court observed if any State has taken a decision that it is not possible to hold exams, “we grant them the liberty to approach the UGC to seek an extension of the deadline.”

Soon after, several universities announced dates for exams.

Odisha: Schools, colleges shut till Durga Puja

Some of the states have started extending lock-down related deadlines, with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announcing that all educational institutions in the state will remain closed till the end of Durga Puja vacation in view of the prevailing pandemic situation.

MCI relief for MBBS abroad

The Medical Council of India issued a notice this week allowing one-time exemption from taking the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) to MBBS candidates seeking admission abroad. However, what the MCI has granted is a postponement rather than a full exemption as these candidates will have to take NEET whenever it is held next, in 2020 or 2021.

Special stories

• IIT Delhi is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Director V Ramgopal Rao spoke to Careers360 about the road ahead: ‘Engineering is about solutions’: V Ramgopal Rao on IIT Delhi’s future

• The director of Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, proposed ways to hold entrance exams during the pandemic that will still be fair: JEE Main 2020: PEC director suggests ‘10-week plan’ to conduct exam

• NALSAR University of Law VC Faizan Mustafa explained why the arguments for cancelling exams in court fell short: NEET, JEE Main: NALSAR VC suggests ways to avoid ‘zero academic year’

• Bihar hasn’t disbursed amounts owed as part of an education loan scheme for hundred of students. They now face threats of expulsion. Bihar: Hundreds of students in a fix due to delays in loan scheme

• Only four states have completed their “mapping” of students’ access to digital devices and only nine states have taken steps to close the digital divide by distributing devices among disadvantaged children, according to an NCERT survey. Only four states have mapped children’s digital access: NCERT Survey

Also read:

• The Week In Education: NEET, JEE Main in Sept, NCERT issues guidelines
  
• The Week In Education: Students in court over UGC, JEE, NEET 2020

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