Nw Delhi: After scores of students demanding constantly to cancel upcoming exams, the Education Ministry on Monday asked all centrally-funded institutions to postpone all offline exams that were scheduled to be conducted in the month of May. The decision will affect entrance tests to various centre-funded colleges and universities including IITs, NITs, CUs, IIITs among others, that are taking admissions for the next academic batch.
The ministry has, however, clarified that online exams may continue. As a result, Delhi University has postponed its final year examinations to June, while several other educational institutes have followed suit.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to postpone the NEET-PG 2021 exam by four months at least and will “not be held before August 31” in a move to make more qualified doctors available for pandemic duty and pressing medical interns into service.
The prime minister announced a slew of measures and directed all states to engage final year MBBS students in COVID duties like teleconsultation and monitoring of mild COVID cases after due orientation under the faculty’s supervision.
He said that B.Sc. or GNM qualified nurses may be utilised in full-time COVID nursing duties under the supervision of senior doctors and nurses. This will reduce the workload on the existing doctors engaged in COVID duty and boost the efforts of triaging, the PMO stated.
Students, teachers and parents across the country have also been raising demands since the second wave of the pandemic to cancel Class 12 Board examinations of CBSE, CISCE, NIOS, and other state boards amid the COVID-19 surge. On May 1, 2021, students started a Twitter campaign with hashtag #cancel12thboardexams2021 that has already received over one million tweets. The CBSE has cancelled the board examination for Class 10 and postponed the Class 12 board exams to June 1.