JEE-Mains from July 18 to 23, NEET on July 26: HRD ministry

The engineering entrance examination JEE will be held from July 18-23, while the medical entrance test NEET will be conducted on July 26, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said.

The CBSE Class X exams have been suspended for 2020 in the subjects where they have not been conducted, although students from North East Delhi, who missed exams that other students have already appeared in, will have to appear for these, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ announced on Tuesday when he interacted with students on their concerns.

CBSE will conduct Class XII board exams in 12 subjects, with the schedule for these, and also the pending Class X exams being announced shortly. (HT File Photo)

However, CBSE will conduct Class XII board exams in 12 subjects, with the schedule for these, and also the pending Class X exams being announced shortly. Officials say order CBSE to go ahead on evaluation of answer-sheets is expected soon.

Students in North East Delhi missed some Class X exams on account of communal riots in the area.

The engineering entrance examination JEE will be held from July 18-23, while the medical entrance test NEET will be conducted on July 26, the minister added.

The two crucial exams, and also the Class X and Class XII exams were postponed due to the lockdown imposed to combat the spread of the coronavirus disease.

“JEE-Mains will be held from July 18-23, while JEE-Advanced will be held in August. NEET will be conducted on July 26,” Nishank said in the online interaction.

At least 1.5 million students across the country have registered for NEET this year, and at last 900,000 have registered for JEE Mains, the entrance exam for the country’s top engineering college.

The JEE-Mains is also the qualifying exam for JEE-Advanced. The HRD Ministry’s National Testing Agency (NTA) has also given students an option to change their opted centres for the two tests as some of them may have moved back home during the lockdown.

Universities and schools across the country have been closed since March 16.

Responding to a question, the HRD minister clarified that the pending class 10 board examination will only be conducted for students in North East Delhi and not the rest of the country.

“No examinations will be held for class 10 students nationwide except for students from North East Delhi. An adequate time of 10 days will be given to all students for preparation of exams,” Nishank said.

“These exams will be conducted again for those few students who could not appear in these exams on the scheduled date due to the impact of law and order issues. The new schedule will be announced within two days,” he added.

The HRD minister asserted that the government is planning to assess the academic loss of students during the lockdown period.

“As a response to the COVID-19 lockdown, the CBSE will assess the loss of instructional time for proportionate reduction in curriculum load for 2021 board exams. In accordance, course committees of the board have initiated work on reduced syllabus in various scenarios,” he said.

Regarding the travel of students, who are staying in hostels of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNV) to their homes, Nishank said the process has begun.

“Out of 173 schools, more than 62 schools have initiated the process,” he said.