NET News Desk
Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi’s Education Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday requested the Central government to hold its decision of conducting the NEET medical entrance exam and the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) amid the pandemic, and “make alternate arrangement” for the students.
The apex court has recently announced that the two exams are scheduled to be conducted in September as “the careers of students cannot be put under jeopardy.”
In a series of tweets, Sisodia said, “The central government is playing with the lives of millions of students in the name of JEE-NEET. My request to the Centre is to cancel both these exams immediately and make an alternative arrangement for admission this year. In this time of unprecedented crisis, an unprecedented step will lead to a solution.”
He said thinking that only NEET-JEE is the only option for admission is narrow and impractical thinking.
“Educational institutions around the world are adopting new methods of admission. Why can’t we do so in India? Is it sensible to stake children’s lives in the name of entrance examination?” he asked.
“Today in 21st century India, we cannot think of an entrance exam option! This is not possible. Only the intention of the government should be to think in the interest of students, instead of NEET-JEE, there can be thousands of safe ways,” he said.
As per reported in NDTV, admit cards for the JEE (Main) exam have already been issued by the National Testing Agency (NTA) and around 6.5 lakh students (of the nearly 8.6 lakh who had registered) have downloaded them, according to sources.
The Supreme Court on Monday announced that the entrance exams will be held as per schedule, “The careers of students cannot be put under jeopardy,” the top court said as it dismissed a petition by 11 students to defer the exams.
“Life cannot be stopped. We have to move ahead with all safeguards and all… Are students ready to waste one whole year? Education should be opened up. Covid may continue for a year more. Are you going to wait another year? Do you know what the loss to the country and peril to the students is?,” Justice Arun Mishra, who headed a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court said.
