JEE Main 2021 First Attempt likely to be conducted by February
JEE Main 2021 application process will commence from December 2020.
Representative imageNEW DELHI: The first cycle of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-Main) 2021 will be conducted in the last week of February instead of January. The application process however will commence from December 2020. Several other competitive and class XII board exams are also likely to be deferred by more than a month. Given the pandemic and forthcoming elections in Assam and West Bengal, the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) officials are of the opinion that it may not be possible to conduct the board exams on time in 2021.
JEE-Main, which is the national level competitive test for admission to various undergraduate engineering and architecture courses, including the eligibility test for the JEE (Advanced) for admission to IITs is conducted twice a year - January and April. However, due to the Covid-19 situation, the April 2020 exams had to be conducted in September and admissions for the 2020-21 academic session are still underway in many institutions.
According to a senior government official, "With the engineering admission still underway the ministry of education is of the view that the first JEE-Main of 2021 has to be pushed to February end. This will allow candidates who were not satisfied with the choice of branch."
"Also the burgeoning Corona cases is another reason as NTA would need around two months to prepare the centres with Covid-19 protocols so that the exams could be safely delivered," said the official. The National Testing Agency earlier had to postpone the exam twice this year due to the pandemic.
The government in October also decided to widen the reach of the JEE-Main by offering it in more regional languages. Currently it is offered in English, Hindi and Gujarati. "Also a final decision on in how many languages it will be offered in 2021 is to be finalised soon. That would also need some time for preparation. Therefore, the exams will have to be conducted in the last week of February," said the official.
As reported first by TOI, according to a senior official at the MoE, the CBSE exams too would be pushed beyond February so that the candidates get additional time for preparation and also so that class XII students get a revision window post JEE-Main. The CBSE board exams generally commence from mid-February. Though a final decision on the dates are yet to be taken, according to CBSE sources, the exam dates are likely to be announced later this week.
According to Gerry Arathoon, chief executive and secretary, Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE), "Personally I don't think board exams will happen before May or June. It will be difficult to conduct the exams even in April due to the rising Covid-19 cases as parents would be unwilling to take the risk. The election dates too have to be taken into consideration."
With the JEE-Main and board exams pushed back by a month, according to MoE sources, this is also likely to affect the scheduling of other competitive exams and state board exams.
JEE-Main, which is the national level competitive test for admission to various undergraduate engineering and architecture courses, including the eligibility test for the JEE (Advanced) for admission to IITs is conducted twice a year - January and April. However, due to the Covid-19 situation, the April 2020 exams had to be conducted in September and admissions for the 2020-21 academic session are still underway in many institutions.
According to a senior government official, "With the engineering admission still underway the ministry of education is of the view that the first JEE-Main of 2021 has to be pushed to February end. This will allow candidates who were not satisfied with the choice of branch."
"Also the burgeoning Corona cases is another reason as NTA would need around two months to prepare the centres with Covid-19 protocols so that the exams could be safely delivered," said the official. The National Testing Agency earlier had to postpone the exam twice this year due to the pandemic.
The government in October also decided to widen the reach of the JEE-Main by offering it in more regional languages. Currently it is offered in English, Hindi and Gujarati. "Also a final decision on in how many languages it will be offered in 2021 is to be finalised soon. That would also need some time for preparation. Therefore, the exams will have to be conducted in the last week of February," said the official.
As reported first by TOI, according to a senior official at the MoE, the CBSE exams too would be pushed beyond February so that the candidates get additional time for preparation and also so that class XII students get a revision window post JEE-Main. The CBSE board exams generally commence from mid-February. Though a final decision on the dates are yet to be taken, according to CBSE sources, the exam dates are likely to be announced later this week.
According to Gerry Arathoon, chief executive and secretary, Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE), "Personally I don't think board exams will happen before May or June. It will be difficult to conduct the exams even in April due to the rising Covid-19 cases as parents would be unwilling to take the risk. The election dates too have to be taken into consideration."
With the JEE-Main and board exams pushed back by a month, according to MoE sources, this is also likely to affect the scheduling of other competitive exams and state board exams.
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