Many medical aspirants across the country have asked for postponement of the undergraduate-level entrance exam for medicine – the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET UG 2021). The demands for postponement increased following a high-level meeting on holding board and entrance exams during COVID-19 on Sunday. Four union ministers, including Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, met state education ministers and officials to discuss the issue.
In the meeting, it was proposed that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will announce Class 12 exam dates on June 1. JEE Main for engineering and NEET will be conducted but no new dates for these exams have been declared.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, in the meeting, said the centre must vaccinate all students before holding JEE Main 2021, NEET 2021 and board exams. The country's 1.5 crore students and 1.5 crore teachers should all be vaccinated first, he said.
We must speak to health experts about whether we can use the vaccines available to us on students who are 17.5 years old," the minister said.
“NEET UG should be postponed at least till October. Govt. Should ensure to take exams only after completing the vaccinated of all students giving exams,” a social media post with #postponeneetUG2021 reads.
“Sir please postpone NEET UG exam 2021 to October. Folded hands Even we need time to study. We also need a stress free environment. Coaching not open. Doing only self-study needs time,” reads another post.
As per the latest updates, NEET 2021 is scheduled for August. Any further changes, if introduced, are likely to be announced after June 1 – after the announcement of new CBSE 12th board exam dates.
In the meeting, two proposals were placed before the states, both on board exams – one was to hold exams only for "major subjects", the second was to hold exams in schools for objective-type questions and for a shorter duration. Following both the methods, exams can be conducted in July-August and results can be announced in September, it said.