Assam: Less than 50% examinees appear on the first day of JEE Mains

Guwahati: In the midst of national uprisings over the conduct of the JEE and NEET exams during the ongoing pandemic situation,  less than 50% attendance was witnessed in the 6 examination centres across Assam on Tuesday (September 1).

According to reports, in the Guwahati centre, where the examination was held through digital mode, "only" around 40% of students appeared for the exams. This was revealed in an interview with an official of the National Testing Agency (NTA) which conducts the JEE (Main) and NEET (UG) across India.

The official further divulged that the attendance level was 'poor' across Assam, with the attendance in all 6 centres standing at a meagre 40%. In Assam, the number of candidates registered to appear for JEE (Main) is 12,803, but only a fraction of the number ended up writing the exams. Officials have expressed that it is primarily because of concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.

The officials will be confronted with another headache with conducting the NEET (UG) examination, as the number of candidates is twice as many. For NEET (UG), the number of aspirants is 30,311 (81 centres).

Many students have protested the conduct of JEE (Main) and NEET exams this year owing to the unprecedented crisis that we have all been confronted with. Students have complained that transportation to the designated examination centres shall be a challenge due to the lockdowns.

The NSUI and Youth Congress have even protested on the streets to demonstrate against the government's move to conduct the entrance exams despite the challenges.

Around 8.67 lakh students have registered for the exam across the country, but Day 1 saw a great dip in the number of aspirants appearing for the exams. Despite maintaining all safety protocols, many aspirants skipped appearing for the exam across the country amid the COVID-19 threat. The biggest dip in attendance was witnessed in Assam and Dehradun, said reports.

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