Goa unit National Students Union urges Centre to postpone NEET, JEE

The National Students Union of India (NSUI) unit of Goa has urged the government to postpone the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) to the rising COVID-19 cases in the country.

Earlier on Tuesday, the National Testing Agency (NTA) reiterated that JEE (Main) and NEET (UG) exams will be held on the dates announced earlier.

It had announced that the JEE (Main) will be held from September 1 to 6 and NEET (UG) on September 13, after the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking the postponement of the NEET and JEE scheduled to be held in September 2020.

"At a time when the cases of COVID-19 are increasing daily, classes are taking place online and there is a medical emergency in our country during a pandemic, the government cannot expect the students to answer exams by going to the exam centre which can indeed lead to multiplying of cases," NSUI Goa said.

It pointed out that organising the examination would be wastage of time as many students are already suffering from the pandemic.

"Hundreds of students are already suffering from COVID-19 and cannot answer their exams. Organising these exams would lead to their wasting of one year. Time and again we have requested the government to cancel all exams, NEET and JEE aspirants are generally below 18 years of age and are the future of the country. Asking them to answer exams would be putting the entire country at a health risk and putting their future at stake," it added.