Biotech exams put off after students’ online campaign
Pressure From Pupils Prompts Indefinite Postponement
Ardhra.Nair@timesgroup.com
Pune: 28.06.2020
The Regional Centre for Biotechnology on Saturday said the Graduate Aptitude Test - Biotechnology (GATB) and Biotechnology Eligibility Test (BET) have been indefinitely postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The move follows an online campaign by students that demanded that these national-level entrance examinations be cancelled. That said, students are still waiting for the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to postpone its Junior Research Fellow entrance examination, which is scheduled for July 12.
With a low number of cities hosting these exams, and with travel options few and risky, the students have sought postponement of all examns in these two months.
GATB and BET were scheduled for June 30 at iON Digital Zone, near the containment zone in Ramtekdi. Earlier this week, the entrance examination for International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad. Uday Samant, the state higher and technical education minister, had termed it a violation of rules, prompting the district collector to order a probe.
“We got our admit card last week and came to know it was at the same centre. Some people I know had travelled to Delhi for the exam, only to know it had been postponed. Why can’t the Union government take a blanket decision rather than wait till the last moment?” said a student from Symbiosis International, adding that some students had also collected money to move court.
“Even for the ICMR JRF, there are only 27 cities with centres. Students from across the country would need to reach these centres to give the exams, for which they would have started booking trains or flights,” she said, adding “All this can be avoided if there is a clear decision taken by the government.”
No comments:
Post a Comment