National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, NEET 2020, and Joint Entrance Examination, JEE Main 2020 has been postponed. NEET 2020 would now be conducted on September 13. JEE Main 2020 has now been pushed to September 1 to 6. JEE Advanced, which was scheduled for August, also stands postponed. IIT JEE examination would now be conducted on September 27. The new dates were confirmed by HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal in a tweet.

Taking to his twitter account, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank confirmed the decision to further defer the national level examinations. With the safety of students in mind, the dates were revised and pushed back to September. The new dates have also been announced. 

NEW DATES FOR JEE MAIN, JEE ADVANCED AND NEET EXAMS

JEE MAIN September 1-September 6
JEE ADVANCED September 27
NEET  September 13

Last week, the India Wide Parents’ Association wrote to the HRD minister and expressed concerns over holding of the examinations as COVID-19 cases soared. It listed out a number of reasons stating why the exams should be postponed. These included increasing COVID-19 infections in India, students acting as carriers of the virus, students coming from containment zones and more.

Moreover, the chorus grew when the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) canceled Class 10 and Class 12 Board exams slated between July 1-15. 

Earlier, the JEE Main exam was scheduled to take place between July 19 and July 23 while the NEET exam was decided to be held on July 26. JEE Main provides admission to NITs, IITs, and CFTIs while the NEET-UG examination is for admission to MBBS/BDS courses. More than 15 lakh students had applied for NEET 2020 while nearly 9 lakh for JEE Main exams.

The decision, that comes as a relief for students, evoked positive and in fact, funny responses on Twitter. Have a look at some of them:

The news would bring joy to thousands of students who had been anxious about the examination dates. With the dates deferred, the students can feel relaxed. The move, however, brings other concerns to fore, including the impact of delay of NEET, JEE Main Exam Dates on the academic calendar. 

Students had been rallying for the delay in the examination, given the present situation. And though many have heaved a sigh of relief, there are students who are not happy with the move. The delay in the examination, especially for the students who had dropped a year to prepare for the examination has left them anxious and confused.