Uncertainty Looms Over IIT JEE Main & NEET Exams

With the COVID-19 pandemic not coming to an end anytime soon, the class 12 students have their worries rising high regarding both their board exams results and the conducting of IIT JEE Main and NEET exams. When asked about the same, Union Minister for Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal said, “The decision will depend on the prevalent situation. We care about our students' safety first, they are our future, we are focusing on their well-being amid the pandemic”.

While speaking with Prabhu Chawla, Editorial Director, The New Indian Express, and S Vaidhyasubramaniam, Vice-Chancellor, Sastra Deemed University on the Express Expressions, a webcast series by The New Indian Express, Pokhriyal stated, “I worked for almost 16-18 hours every day. Some students were in hostels, some on the roads, schools were not in their regular working conditions, so handling the situation was not an easy task. Then there were decisions that had to be taken about competitive exams, university exams, board exams, and more — there wasn't a single day when I didn't have to make a significant decision. In these two months, we interacted with our 33 crore students, more than one crore teachers and students' parents through online conferences. We also directly spoke to the states' education ministers on a daily basis to make important decisions about schools and higher education. I have also spent some time writing stories that are majorly inspired by the incidents that took place over the past few months”.

The Union Minister was positive about the various measures that the government has formulated for the students in order to make them utilise their time in the best possible manner. “UGC is working towards making online education possible in the country, it is taking steps in the right direction. We are working day and night to create greater reach and make online education accessible to all. We have tried our best to make it possible for rural students to also study online through television sets if not laptops or phones wherever possible. We update the SWAYAM portal's content regularly, DIKSHA portal is also there, E-Paathshala has CBSE study material in almost 15 languages. Students who do not have access to the internet, they can watch lessons on TV 24/7, on several channels. The aim is to reach the last child in India's villages. We are not sitting idle and I believe we will succeed”, said the HRD Minister.

“We already set up the Aarogya Setu app for people's safety. Similarly, the National Test Abhyas app for NEET students has all kinds of materials and also mock tests. More than 6,50,000 downloads have been done already, 11,21,000 have taken the mock tests. We will help them in every way possible”, cited Pokhriyal while speaking about the government’s plans regarding joining hands with other firms and institutions.

When asked about the reopening of schools in the country, Pokhriyal said, “It depends on the schools a lot as to how prepared they are to open with all the necessary precautions in place. What I can assure is that whenever we decide to open schools, we will first speak to the state governments, the Home Ministry, and follow all necessary guidelines provided by the Health Ministry. However, what matters the most now is the safety of our students. Education is equally important but we need to take precautions first as the situation demands”.

“Changes are happening on its own, situations like this mould policy as well as laws and execute them as well. With this unprecedented crisis and then the lockdown, various means to sustain education have also come out of it, like learning from the comfort of our homes, now we will form policies accordingly, create new curriculums and how to make them more engaging and interactive. All of this will happen with time. Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Aryabhatta these were all born in India, now scientists, researchers around the world have developed concepts, experimented, and made advancements in science-based on them. We are combining both ancient knowledge, new innovations, and science in our new National Education Policy. NEP has the ability to face any kind of challenge in the upcoming future. What we have learned while formulating the NEP and amid the pandemic is that online education is extremely important”, asserted the HRD Minister when asked by S Vaidhyasubramaniam about how the COVID-19 pandemic is presenting opportunities to the government for bringing about changes to the policies.

“We are losing out on talent and they do not typically come back to India. But we have state-of-the-art facilities in our schools, colleges and we have more number of institutes so if they stay here, the students will get equal opportunities. Our aim is to bring in international students and we are already on that road. Through our Study in India programme, we already have over 50,000 registrations and this will increase I believe. Our IITs, IIMs, IIITs, are all among top institutes of the world, students are working in renowned companies, leading in several sectors — this shows that we have the capability to churn out world-class professionals in every stream’, said Pokhriyal while stating how he wants a system and infrastructure efficient enough in the country that no Indian student has to leave his/her country for higher and advanced studies.

“The PM's policies including Make in India, Digital India, Start-up India — these are all steps in the right direction to build a new India. The NEP will provide most of the answers and solutions to the future of education in India”, added Pohkriyal.