A high level virtual meeting will be held tomorrow, May 23, 2021, to decide the conduct of class 12th board exams and entrance examinations. The meeting will start at 11:30 am and will be chaired by Hon’ble Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh. Apart from him, Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal, Prakash Javdekar, Smriti Z Irani, education ministers of all the states, and secretaries of all the state are expected to join in. It is highly expected that tomorrow, the students will final get to know the status of board exams and entrance examinations.
Due to the second wave of COVID, most of the entrance exams, board exams, university exams, etc have been postponed. Now that the situation in the country is not getting any better, students across the nation are getting anxious. All eyes are now set on the high level meeting, which is due tomorrow.
3 suggestions that the students have started to submit for the meeting are:
Cancellation of the class 12 boards: After most of the state boards and CBSE have cancelled the class 10th exam, the class 12 students are also demanding the same. The class 12 boards have been postponed and not cancelled. The students are fearing that taking offline exams amidst the pandemic will be unsafe for them and their families. A lot of students are also not mentally prepared to take the exams, as many have recently lost a loved one.
Decision on NEET 2021: NEET has become a mystery since 2021 started. While NTA announced dates and details for the JEE Main, no announcement has been made on NEET yet. NTA has only announced that NEET 2021 will be held on August 01, 2021. However, the registration for the exam has not started yet. Also, no update about the exam has been provided since March. Students seek a decision for the only UG medical entrance exam in the nation, as soon as possible.
Revised dates for JEE Main 2021: JEE Main 2021 April and May exams have been postponed until further notice. On one hand, the application process for the April exam is over, the May attempt remains untouched. The May attempt can only start when the April exams are over. The May attempt is crucial for the B.Arch and B.Plan candidates, as it is the second attempt for them after the January exam. Students now want to know when and how is NTA planning to hold the exams.
Other than JEE Main, NEET and class 12 boards, a major decision for exams like UPSC and other national level exams are also anticipated. The interview for the ongoing exams was due to begin from April 2021 but was postponed at the last moment. Also, the upcoming 2021 Preliminary stage of the Civil Services Examination is just round to the corner slated to be conducted on 27 June 2021. There is no communication whether the exams will be postponed or will be held on the said date yet.
Similarly, many colleges of the nation are yet to announce their decision on semester exams and so on. The lack of uniformity in the examination policy has created ambiguity among the students, which is ultimately leading to apprehension. Hence the meeting to be held tomorrow will be followed by all sections of the student community, be it at the school level or competitive level.
The information about the meeting was provided by the Education Minister, Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal. Through a four tweet series, he gave out few details about the meeting.
The Union Education Minister, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal, has also written a letter to the states / UTs. In it, the minister has explained that the CBSE, Ministry of Education (MoE), and Department of School Education & Literacy is looking at the options on how to conduct the exams safely. On the other hand, the Department of Higher Education is working on finalising the dates for the conduct of those exams which are held for admission in institutions of higher learning.
Acknowledging the impact of COVID-19 on the education sector, the minister further wrote that for conducting board exams, entrance exams, and other exams in the country, a considered decision-based on inputs of different State Governments and UT Administrations should be taken.
