NEET, JEE Main Exam 2020 Highlights: HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ends suspense, postpones both exams to September

File image

JEE Main 2020 and NEET 2020 exam dates have been postponed, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokriyal has said ending the suspense for lakhs of aspirants. JEE Main 2020 examination will now be held between September 1 to 6, while JEE advanced exam will be held on September 27. NEET 2020 exam date has been fixed for September 13, Pokhriyal announced.

The postponement is keeping in mind the safety of the students, he said, adding, this will relieve students and give them a chance to be more at ease while preparing for the exams.

Keeping in mind the safety of students and to ensure quality education we have decided to postpone #JEE & #NEET examinations. JEE Main examination will be held between 1st-6th Sept, JEE advanced exam will be held on 27th Sept & NEET examination will be held on 13th Sept. pic.twitter.com/klTjtBxvuw

Story continues below Advertisement

Remove Ad

— Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) July 3, 2020

The revision in JEE Main 2020, NEET 2020 exam dates is based on recommendations of a panel set up on July 2 to review the situation for conducting the examinations, Pokhriyal said.

Also Read: JEE Main 2020, NEET 2020 postponed: New dates

The National Testing Academy (NTA) has been flooded with requests from aspirants and their parents seeking clarity on NEET exam date 2020 and for JEE Main 2020 news. As of now, the medical National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test exam NEET 2020 is scheduled for July 26 and engineering Joint Entrance Examination JEE Main 2020 is slated to be held from July 18 to 23.

Meanwhile, many have started speculating on the ministry's decision and started posting messages across social media platforms suggesting the JEE Main 2020 and NEET 2020 exam dates have been postponed. However, there is no such official confirmation yet. It is advisable that students and parents await an official confirmation from the HRD Ministry on the matter later today.

Students have been signing online petitions and holding Twitter campaigns requesting the government to postpone the engineering and medical entrance exams after CBSE, ICSE and many other exams got cancelled.

There have been reports about parents of aspiring doctors and engineers writing to the examination council seeking to postpone NEET 2020 and JEE Mains 2020 in the wake of lockdown extension in several states. India Wide Parents Association reportedly even wrote to the HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank citing reasons why they believe the examinations should be postponed. “This doesn’t affect the lives of only students, it will have a direct impact on the health and safety of the whole nation considering the nature of the Coronavirus,” the letter reportedly read.

"Assuming that they (the students) have seats in Vande Bharat Mission flights, the students will be exposed to COVID-19 risks as also they would have to undergo quarantine on their arrival in India," the petition filed by the parents said.

The postponement of the JEE Main 2020 and NEET 2020 exam dates then students could mean delays in admissions into higher education institutions and the onset of the first-year classes. Also, students aspiring to get entry into the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) will be particularly impacted as JEE Main 2020 postponement will push back the dates of JEE Advanced. Students need to clear both the exams to get into the IITs.

Also Read: JEE Main 2020, NEET 2020: All you need to know

There were also reports suggesting nearly 4,000 JEE, NEET 2020 aspirants from the Gulf moved the Supreme Court on July 2 seeking either postponement of NEET 2020 exam date or set up of direct National Test centres in the Gulf.

Over 15 lakh applications have reportedly been received for NEET 2020 examinations held to shortlist undergraduate medical and BDS courses.