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Considering multiple JEE attempts; board exam dates will be declared well in advance: Education minister
The minister said dates for exams like JEE and NEET would be declared well in advance so that students are not inconvenienced
The government is considering holding JEE (Main), for entrance to engineering colleges, three or four times a year rather than twice annually, Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said on Thursday.
The minister, who was interacting with students, teachers, and parents in a virtual session, also said that his ministry was considering including more multiple choice questions for JEE (Main) to reduce stress on the students.
The education ministry is also considering whether there is a need to trim the syllabus for JEE (Main), the minister said. He, however, added that a decision would be taken keeping the prevailing circumstances in mind.
He said dates for exams like JEE and NEET would be declared well in advance so that students are not inconvenienced.
The minister said that the system of setting questions of exams like JEE was also being thoroughly looked at. He added said that for JEE (Main), a proposal was under examination where students will be given choice to answer 75 questions (25 each in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics) out of 90 (30 questions each in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics). In JEE (Main) 2020, aspirants had to answer 75 questions (25 questions each in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics).
On whether the board exams could be postponed, Nishank said that the exam dates will be declared well in advance. He, however, did not specify if a decision to postpone them had been taken. The minister said the students would get adequate time to prepare.
He said that despite the pandemic, NEET exam were conducted.
The minister also said that the CBSE had removed the word “fail” from its evaluation process, but did not elaborate further.
Some of the students also raised concerns about the possibility of a clash between practicals and competitive exam dates. Nishank said these aspects would be factored in and schools would be requested to not hold practicals at the time of JEE.
On a question related to NEET, the minister said the exam was not cancelled as it is important for the country. He said even the Supreme Court had allowed the exam to be held.
On a suggestion to conduct NEET online, he said consultations could be held to know what the students wanted.
