The decision of the Centre to go ahead with the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) has evoked mixed response from aspirants and parents.

While some expressed the view that holding examinations will help them overcome stress, others say that loss of an academic year is better than contracting the dreaded coronavirus. The Centre has announced its decision to hold the JEE Main from September 1 to 6 and NEET UG on Sept 13.

The Congress and other Opposition parties have expressed their reservations against the decision and plan to jointly move the Supreme Court on the issue.

While JEE Main is an online test, where students have to go to the designated centres to take the computer-based test in the six-day window period, NEET is offline test and will be held on a single day.

It is estimated that about 30,000 students will be taking JEE Main and about 50,000 will appear for NEET.

Earlier there were three centres for JEE Main and eight for NEET, it is learnt that keeping COVID in mind, the number of centres have been increased this time. Another major issue is transportation. Both for JEE and NEET, pver 50% of students are from rural areas who were hostellers and have gone back to their hometown, and now they have to reach the city at least a day before and stay in a hotel, as transport sector has not opened fully, said Ramalingeswara Rao, Director of Narayana College.

The government has assured that all precautions will be taken as per COVID-19 protocols. Change of centre has also been allowed to enable students to take the examination at the centre nearest to them.

However, some students express apprehensions on the probability of the family members of candidates being affected by the virus and chances of its spread through asymptomatic students at the examination halls.

“Students are under intense pressure due to the uncertainty. They will get over their anxiety only on completion of the examinations for which most of them have been preparing simultaneously along with their Intermediate course for the last two years,” says Koppisetty Jagan Mohan, whose daughter will be taking the JEE Main this year.

“There is no guarantee on a probable date for the end of the virus or for bringing out a vaccine. Instead of wasting an academic year, the students should take the 3-hour examination after taking the necessary precautions,” he says.

“August is almost over and further delay will only lead to loss of an academic year. The undue delay in the conduct of the examination is getting me on my nerves. Excessive gap between preparation and examination may affect my performance,” says K. Meghana of Sri Chaitanya Junior College, who is scheduled to take the JEE.

“A State-level entrance test held in Karnataka has resulted in 150 students testing positive for COVID-19. It’s a foregone conclusion as to how many will be affected by the virus at an all-India examinations like JEE and NEET. The government is meant for the people. It cannot put the lives of students at risk,” says Yamuna of Narayana College.

“Holding examinations is the only way out to relieve the students of their stress. The National Testing Agency (NTA) has already expressed its inability for online examination this year as a question bank has to be prepared and confidentiality maintained. Nearly 16 lakh students are scheduled to take the NEET this year,” says N.V. Satyanarayana, a faculty in botany at Sri Chaitanya College.