Education Ministry: No change in NEET-UG, CUET, JEE (Main) schedule
What's the story
According to the Ministry of Education, none of the competitive exams administered by the National Testing Agency (NTA) scheduled between July and August 2022 will be postponed despite student demands citing various reasons, TOI reported. NTA is scheduled to conduct three major entrance exams: the Common University Entrance Test-UG (CUET-UG), the National Eligibility Cumulative Entrance Test-UG (NEET-UG), and the Joint Entrance Examination-Main (JEE Main).
Context
Why does this story matter?
#MODIJIdeferNEETUG trended on social media a few days ago as students urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reschedule the entrance exam. Students reappearing for NEET-UG claimed that the NEET-UG 2021 counseling ended in March, giving them only three months to revise the whole syllabus. Meanwhile, the overlap between all the scheduled major national-level entrance exams is another concern for many students across streams.
Reason
Why is the government not postponing the exam?
According to the ministry officials, none of the three examinations will be rescheduled. They claimed that in contrast to 2020 and 2021, when exams had to be repeatedly postponed because of COVID-19 waves that negatively impacted the academic calendars, there was no such justification for rescheduling this year. All organizations and institutions are reportedly working to restore the academic year to its pre-pandemic state.
Context
NTA announced the dates for CUET last week
Last week, the NTA announced the dates for the CUET-UG, which will be administered between July 15 and August 10. The NEET-UG is scheduled for July 17, and the JEE (Main) is scheduled for July 21-30. While calls to postpone the CUET have gained traction since the dates were announced, "postpone NEET" has already been trending on social media for more than two months.
Information
Students particularly demanding the deferment of NEET and CUET
On social media, aspirants have called for the postponement of all three exams, particularly the NEET-UG and CUET. While over 9.5 lakh candidates applied for the CUET, 18.72 lakh candidates applied for the NEET. Over 10,000 people earlier wrote to the NTA, expressing their dissatisfaction.
Twitter Post
Here's the tweet of a student demanding deferment
I genuinely wanna know what’s wrong with these people like what were they exactly thinking while deciding these dates… #DharmendraPradhanHelpUs #postponeneetug2022 https://t.co/XpAWppxIBe
— kookie monster (@kookiem11596787) June 23, 2022
Quote
Students should not get misguided by any rumors: Official
Another ministry official urged the aspirants not to pay attention to rumors of postponements. "Exams are on schedule. Last two academic sessions were already distrusted...We are trying to bring that on track and that can happen only when we conduct the exams on time," he stated. "Students shouldn't get misguided by any rumors or claims by private coaching institutes of any postponement," he added.