The National Students Union of India (NSUI) on Wednesday, 2 September, slammed the central government over 65 percent attendance for the JEE examinations, saying many students missed the exam due to hasty move and lack of planning to provide necessary basic arrangements and demanded re-examination.
“As the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains kickstarted from 1 September only around 65 percent students appeared for the examination, and many centres in the country reported meagre attendance of less than 45 percent.”Lokesh Chugh, NSUI National Secretary
"NSUI demands a re-examination for the students who have missed their chances to attend the entrance exam because of the hasty move to conduct JEE and lack of planning from the government in providing the necessary basic arrangements to take students to examination centres amid this pandemic so that a large majority of students will not miss out on this academic session,” Chugh added.
Condemning the government's move to conduct exams amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, NSUI condemns the imposition of JEE despite the concerns and demand from the students' community to postpone the examination considering the pandemic.
"Though the government had claimed that they have taken adequate measures for the smooth conduct of examination and arranged transportation facilities for the students, the low attendance indicates that it is the failure of authority which denied the opportunity to many students to appear for the examination," Chugh said.
NSUI National President Neeraj Kundan had also demanded the government arrange transportation facilities for students, especially those coming from rural areas. The Congress also launched a nationwide campaign on 28 August to demand postponement of NEET and JEE examinations after the government's decision to conduct examinations in the month of September.
The Quint also spoke to several students who said that they had given Tuesday’s BArch exam a miss and wanted to focus on BTech or NEET.
Low attendance number were witnessed across states like Gujarat and Assam, which reported 55 percent and 50 percent attendance on the first day of the JEE exam.
The true impact of COVID-19 was seen in Punjab, where only 45 percent of registered students appeared at the only centre for JEE Mains in Ludhiana.
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