It’s that time of year again, when class 12 students focus on entrance exams for various undergraduate professional courses, the majority of which are held in April and May each year. This year, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) class 12 students are in a pickle because their exams, which are scheduled to take place between April 26 and June 15, coincide with the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-Mains) exam, which will be held between April and May this year.
“Our board exams are always held over a two-month period, but they are usually held in the months of February and March. Due to the delay, exams are being held exactly when the entrance exams are scheduled this year, forcing us to choose between board exams and our future “Aniket Bhavsar, a CBSE class 12 student from Mumbai, agreed.
JEE Mains has always been held once a year, but in 2020, the exam was split into two sessions to give students a chance to improve their score. For the same reason, NTA decided to hold JEE Mains in four sessions last year. While the February and March sessions went off without a hitch, the April and May sessions were forced to be rescheduled due to an increase in Covid-19 cases and were finally held in July, August, and September, respectively.
However, due to the late in conducting class 12 board exams across the state and central education boards this year, the exam organizing authority has decided to revert to the 2020 model and only hold JEE Mains twice. This year’s JEE Mains guest session will take place between April 21 and May 4, with the second session taking place between May 24 and 29. The goal, according to the NTA, is to ensure that admissions to engineering colleges are completed on time this year.
“Despite the fact that the JEE exam follows CBSE syllabus, we will have to study class 11 syllabus as well for the test, whereas our board exams only cover class 12 syllabus. It is unreasonable to expect us to prepare for both exams, knowing how stressful they are individually. Because of the chaos, most of us may have to withdraw from the entrance exam this year and retake it the following academic year “another student stated.
Most students have taken to social media to request assistance from the National Testing Agency (NTA), the exam conducting authority, as well as union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. “To be fair, NTA should make another attempt for us. It is not our fault that the board exams have been scheduled at the same time as the entrance exam “Gargi Pradhan, another class 12 student, agreed.
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