The NEET UG 2021 exam has come into the limelight once again with aspirants demanding for postponement of the medical entrance exam to October 2021. Microblogging site Twitter is flooding with posts made with the hashtag #postponeneetUG2021 since it was hinted earlier this week that the CBSE class 12 boards may be conducted in July-August 2021.
National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is a national level exam conducted for admission to undergraduate medical programs. The exam is conducted by the National Testing Agency. In March 2021, the NTA announced that the NEET 2021 exam will be held in 11 languages on August 01, 2021, in pen and paper mode i.e. offline mode.
While the minimum educational qualification required to appear in the NEET exam for admission to undergraduate medical courses is Class 12th pass, the board exams are already pending at the central and state level and a final decision is awaited on June 01, 2021. After a high profile meeting regarding the conduct of Class 12 board exams earlier this week, it was announced that the CBSE has proposed that the Class 12 exams can be conducted using a more conducive pattern in July – August 2021.
With the announcement made public, aspirants of the NEET 2021 exam are now demanding for postponement of the currently scheduled exam date to October 2021. Candidates are posting on Twitter that they are going through “depression” & “anxiety” due to the pandemic situation. Others have stated that self-study is not sufficient as physical coaching classes are closed and they do not have enough time or situation to study for their board as well as the NEET 2021 exam.
A certain section of the student community is demanding for the postponement of the exam till students and exam conducting officials are vaccinated. Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia expressed similar views in the high profile meeting held earlier. He said that “it is time to think like parents” as there is no provision for vaccination of the under 18 age group as of now.
The NEET 2021 exam date stands scheduled on August 01, 2021, as of now since the NTA has not officially postponed the exam date. However, it may be noted that once a decision regarding the conduct of Class 12 board exams is given as promised on June 01, 2021, the NTA may review and revise the NEET UG 2021 exam date. The agency is also expected to release the official notification and start online applications as soon as the exam date is confirmed.
The NEET-UG exam is the gateway for admission to medical, dental and other allied programs including MBBS, BDS, BUMS, BHMS, BAMS, BSMS, etc. As per reports, the exam is scheduled to be held this year for admission to 541 medical colleges with 91,367 MBBS seats, 313 dental colleges with 26,949 BDS seats, and 52,720 UG-AYUSH seats respectively. Furthermore, from 2021 onward, the NEET score can also be used for admission to B.Sc Nursing, B.Sc Life Science and other Nursing courses. Candidates are advised to visit the official website i.e. ntaneet.nic.in regularly for further updates in this regard.
