NEET, JEE Mains Examinations Postponed By Central Government, Will Be Held In September 2020

Highlights:

• National level Medical and Engineering exams postponed by Central Government
• The government says “safety of students” paramount
• New dates for the exams have been announced

The Government of India (GoI) has decided to postpone the national level Medical and Engineering exams this year. This decision was taken after a panel which was made to decide the feasibility of conducting the medical entrance exams NEET and the engineering exams JEE Main in July this year as the cases of the novel Coronavirus in India are rising at an increasing rate. The panel recommended to reschedule the exams.

The exams will now be held in September.

The NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) will be held on the 13^th of September while the JEE Main (Joint Entrance Examination- Main) will take place between 1^st September and 6^th September.

JEE Advanced or IIT JEE will be taking place on the 27^th of September.

Dr Ramesh Phkhriyal (Nishank) who is the Union Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD) tweeted, “Keeping in mind the safety of students and to ensure quality education we have decided to postpone JEE & NEET examinations. JEE Main examination will be held between 1st-6th Sept, JEE advanced exam will be held on 27th Sept & NEET examination will be held on 13th Sept.”

Keeping in mind the safety of students and to ensure quality education we have decided to postpone #JEE & #NEET examinations. JEE Main examination will be held between 1st-6th Sept, JEE advanced exam will be held on 27th Sept & NEET examination will be held on 13th Sept. pic.twitter.com/klTjtBxvuw

— Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) July 3, 2020

The HRED Ministry decision has come after the parents and students raised concerns over conducting the exams in July whereas the cases of the novel Coronavirus in the country are growing rapidly.

Initially, the NEET exam was scheduled on the 26^th of July and the JEE Main was scheduled from July 18^th to July 23^rd. The JEE Advanced which is conducted for admission in Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) was initially scheduled on the 23^rd of August.

Online petitions were being signed by the students along with multiple Twitter campaigns were run requesting the GoI to postpone both Medical and Engineering entrance examinations.

Even the parents of around 4,000 NRI students who are based in West Asia filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India on Wednesday seeking the NEET exams to be postponed. In the petition they claimed there are no exams centres outside India and the International travel is still not in operation owing to the pandemic.