JEE, NEET Exam 2020: HRD ministry postpones dates amid COVID-19. Check the new schedule

A panel constituted by Union HRD minister, has recommended to postpone the JEE and NEET examinations. On Thursday, the HRD ministry formed a panel to check the feasibility of conducting the examinations in July. The parents and students raised concerns about JEE and NEET examinations' schedule in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

"Looking at the prevailing circumstances and requests received from students & parents appearing for JEE and NEEET examinations, a committee consisting of officials from the National Testing Agency (NTA) and other experts has been advised to review the situation and submit its recommendations latest by tomorrow," Pokhriyal said on Thursday.

While medical entrance exam NEET was scheduled to held on July 26, the JEE (Mains), for admission in engineering colleges, was scheduled from July 18-23. JEE (Advanced), which is conducted for admission to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), was scheduled for August 23.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had last week cancelled some board exam papers scheduled from July 1 to 15. The move came after group of parents moved the Supreme Court raising concerns about COVID-19 risk to students.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has created a challenge as far as conducting exams is concerned and in India, the scale is huge. Therefore, for the future, NTA is looking at building capacity for holding online exams, which candidates can take from their homes," an official had earlier said.

Students have been signing online petitions and requesting the government to postpone the engineering and medical entrance exams as well. Parents of nearly 4,000 NRI students based in West Asia earlier filed a petition in the Supreme Court Wednesday demanding the NEET be postponement. They have noted that there are no exam centres outside India and international travel is still restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi today wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to extend reservation for OBC candidates in the all-India quota of medical and dental seats in colleges run by states and union territories. She said that reservation for OBC candidates under the all-India quota in the medical entrance examination NEET is currently restricted to central institutions.

(With inputs from agencies)