The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE Main) for admission to top engineering colleges in the country begins today. Candidates aspiring to pursue BArch, BPlanning programmes will appear for JEE Main today, while the ones aspiring to take admission in BE/BTech courses will appear in the test from February 24 to 26. The three-hour examination will be conducted online in 331 cities with several measures in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The exam will be held in two shifts.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) has made arrangements to disinfect seating areas between shifts of candidates, provide three-ply face masks and a sanitiser, check body temperatures with thermal guns, and isolate students with fever in separate rooms.
NTA will conduct the exam in four sessions in the subsequent months up to May. The paper pattern for the Engineering entrance exam is different this year. Due to the disruption caused to schooling by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and several state boards reduced their syllabuses for Class 12. The JEE Main exam pattern was changed to accommodate students from different school boards but without lowering the standard.
JEE Main is held for admission to undergraduate programmes in engineering and architecture at the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and a number of Central and State engineering colleges. It is also a gateway to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), with the top-ranked candidates from JEE Main allowed to appear in JEE Advanced.