Don’t postpone JEE & NEET, say parents

Don’t postpone JEE & NEET, say parents

Farheen.Hussain@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:  27.08.2020

“Enthusiastic children will suffer the most if competitive exams like the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Main and National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) are postponed. They will lose focus and interest. Kids like my child will end up joining other institutions rather than missing out on a year. They will give up their dream to join IIT and IITs will miss out on some good talent,” Swaroopa (name changed), mother of an SSLC and CET topper said.

Like Swaroopa, several parents and students are anguished over the demand for postponement of the exams.

There have been widespread protests and demand on virtual platforms to shelve the two crucial exams, with hashtags trending.

JEE Main is for admission to IITs and NITs and NEET (undergraduate) is for entry to medical colleges. While the former is scheduled to be held between September 1 and 6, the latter is expected to be held on September 13.

Manohar (name changed), a parent, said the pandemic must be dealt with tact and the exams, which are important stepping stones for students, must not be put off any further. “The world has understood how to deal with it (pandemic). We can follow the guidelines, maintain distance and go ahead with this,” he said, adding: “The solution cannot lie in avoiding important things. We never know what will happen next year.”

An open letter written by a group of parents in support of the exam says with so much media and political uproar over the issue, they would like to highlight the fact that there are people who think differently. As per the letter, all students applying for exams are adults “who can make a decision best for them”.

The letter goes on to say that the decision to write the test must be left to the examinees, but the matter should not be forced on everyone. Social media platforms too are abuzz with messages favouring conduct of the exams.