https://arab.news/9ejdu
- Thousands of students oppose decision to conduct highly competitive exams from Sept. 1 for two weeks
NEW DELHI: Students across India protested on Saturday against the government’s decision to conduct engineering and medical exams next week despite a spike in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, with the South Asian country registering a record number of infections every day.
“I, along with five other students, are on a hunger strike demanding the postponement of the exams to ensure the safety of students and their parents,” Neeraj Kundan, president of the National Students Union of India, told Arab News.
As of Saturday, more than 77,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported across the country, adding to the national caseload of 3.5 million out of a population of 1.3 billion.
Additionally, with nearly 63,000 deaths recorded, India continues to be the worst-affected nation in Asia.
Citing recent statistics on COVID-19, the protesting students are demanding that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) — which are scheduled to begin on Sept. 1 and last for two weeks — be postponed.
The nationwide tests will see the participation of nearly 2.5 million students for both the NEET and JEE.
“The government does not understand the gravity of the situation. Some parts of India are flooded [due to the monsoon rains]. There is also the issue of transportation. I hope the government listens to these reasons,” Kundan said.
On Friday, six opposition-ruled states filed a petition in the Supreme Court asking for it to review its earlier decision allowing the government to go ahead with the exams.
The apex court on Aug. 17 had rejected a plea to postpone the tests.
“The center should make a decision quickly, as little [time] is left. The government should not hesitate to postpone the exam…[and] should consider the feelings of students and parents. I hope the government will behave sensitively and postpone the exams,” Ashok Gehlot, chief minister of the northern state of Rajasthan, said on Friday.
The government, however, maintains that gong ahead with both the NEET and JEE is in the “best interests” of the students.
“Decisions are being taken holistically, keeping the careers of students in mind,” India’s Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal said on Wednesday.
He added: “National Testing Agency (NTA) officials told me that over 7 lakh (700,000) candidates have downloaded JEE-Main admit cards while over 10 lakh (one million) aspirants have downloaded NEET admit cards. This shows that students want the exams to be held at any cost.”
However, Rishabh Raj, a student from the Kalyanpur area of the eastern Indian state of Bihar, says that the government was “forcing” them to take the exam.
“For the last five months, I have been confined to my village, and I could not have proper coaching for the exam. I am not prepared,” Raj told Arab News.
“My examination center is in Patna (Bihar’s capital), which is some 200 kilometers from my home. Where will I stay and how will I get there when transportation is still an issue?” the 18-year-old added.
He says his biggest worry is “to catch the infection.”
“You cannot sit for three hours with a mask on. Considering the ground reality, it would be tough to maintain social distancing. The government should have used some imagination and devised other ways to conduct the exam,” Raj said.
He is not the lone voice of opposition, with students across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Kolkata and other Indian states protesting against the move, in addition to launching the #PostponeJEEAndNEET online campaign.
On Monday, 4,000 students called for a day-long hunger strike on social media.
For years, the JEE and NEET exams have been held in March and April; this year, they had to be postponed twice due to the pandemic.
Some medical practitioners wondered why the government did not seem to grasp the gravity of the pandemic.
“It is not a wise decision to hold a mass-scale exam when the COVID-19 situation is at its worst in the country,” Dr. Hrjit Singh Bhatti, president of the Progressive Medicos and Scientists Forum, told Arab News.
“The government is behaving in a traditional way and is not understanding the gravity of the pandemic, which has changed our lives and our way of working. It should find a new way to conduct exams,” he added.
Delhi-based educationist Meeta Sengupta agreed, saying: “We need to respond with empathy to the problem at hand.”
“The NTA should hold exams in a way that responds to the needs of the students,” she told Arab News.
“Examination authorities should...find ways to create more exams of the same replicable standard, held on different dates and at different centers. Cancelling exams is not a solution; having more exams is the solution,” she added.
The JEE and NEET are incredibly competitive and challenging exams, and millions of students compete with each for a few thousand seats in India’s best engineering colleges, such as the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). Students from the IIT are the most sought by recruiters in both national and international markets.
“The JEE and NEET are completely life-transforming exams. Admission into a good engineering college ensures employability and these students often go on to become Fortune 500 CEOs. They cater to the global market and rise to the top,” Sengupta said.