Published 22:15 IST, August 24th 2020
JEE, NEET exams 2020: What if exams are conducted amid COVID-19 pandemic
While activists highlighted the undue stress amid COVID-19, universities fear that postponing the JEE NEET exams 2020 will burden next year's academic calendar.
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Even with political leaders urging the Centre to postpone the JEE and NEET exams, the officials confirmed that NEET will be held on September 13 and the JEE (Main) will be held from September 1 to September 6, 2020. While Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy opined that the decision to impose exams would be a ‘giant mistake’, activists have highlighted the undue stress thrust on students amid COVID-19 pandemic to appear for exams.
Amid soaring coronavirus cases, it is believed that if the examinations are conducted then lives of around 25 lakh candidates will be at risk. The students have argued that with the evidence of the virus being airborne, conducting an exam of such a magnitude will only result in a disaster. Parents are equally worried and have argued that with huge crowds, social distancing will naturally take a backseat, especially with the amount of stress and anxiety that the aspirants will be going through.
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Transport also remains a huge concern among students, parents and activists. Railways remain closed and public transports are either very less or not accessible. Additionally, the activists noted that public transport does pose even more risk of contracting the virus because of the number of interactions one would have with the public.
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More the people, more the feast for the virus. Even though the Centre does adhere to health guidelines, questions, including what about the students coming from containment zones and what about the asymptomatic patients, have been raised. Moreover, bad performances also play a key role. Activists have questioned, that what if the student performs poorly and take drastic steps. It is believed that conducting exams amid such an unprecedented situation is just another ‘unnecessary’ problem, which can easily be avoided by delaying them to another date when the situation is better and conducive.
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Experts argue postponement could disrupt academic calendar
On the other hand, however, the universities fear that postponing exams will burden he next year’s shortened academic calendar. Experts state while postponing exams for some time is acceptable, resulting in a delay in the academic year's admission, it was not an ideal solution. Experts argue that professional courses like Engineering, medicine have several laboratory components which have to be conducted on campus in a timely fashion. By postponing exams and a truncated academic year - ideally starting by November-December, academicians fear that they will not be able to manage to conduct such classes.
The other worry academicians feel is that online classes may not be able to substitute in-class lectures for key courses. Besides a delay in exams leading to cutting down a semester, institutes have expressed the challenges they will face filling the many reserved quotas in the admission counselling process. Apart from these troubles, several experts have raised arguments on India's online teaching infrastructure not being uniform and robust - depriving several students of lower economic backgrounds from timely, quality education.
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17:34 IST, August 24th 2020