This year 16 lakh students will be appearing for NEEET exam which is scheduled to be held on 12 September.
A section of students are now demanding a further postponement of the test citing various reasons. They shared their concerns on social networking websites through various hashtags such as #postponeNEET, #shiftNEETUG among many others. Academicians, however, believe that the exam date is suitable given the current circumstances.
Kartikey, another NEET-UG aspirant from Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi, is a private category CBSE student. Since the central board is also conducting the improvement exams from August 15 to September 15, he will be appearing for both math and biology papers scheduled to be held on September 6 and September 13, respectively.
“Multiple exams are scheduled to be held in the first two weeks of September. ICAR AIEEA-UG 2021 will be held on September 7, 8, 9 and 17. The Uttar Pradesh Common Entrance Test (UPCET) will be conducted from September 5 and 6, 2021 across the state. CBSE is also conducting exams in the same month,” he added.
During the pandemic students who were lodged in cities preparing for the test had shifted back to their native places. “These students are facing issues with the choices of centres that they had submitted earlier as per the circumstance. If someone’s centre is in different cities for two exams, it is practically impossible for them to travel within 24-36 hours and give their best,” he added.
Students are also repeatedly claiming that the authorities have not considered the impact of the unprecedented coronavirus outbreak on NEET aspirants’ psychology and preparation.
While at the other side academicians believe that the exam date is suitable given the current circumstances.
Saurabh Kumar, Director Academics, Vidyamandir Classes, said that the exam should not be postponed further. “The exam was earlier scheduled to be held on August 1 but it has been delayed by more than a month. As per medical experts, the third wave of the coronavirus outbreak is expected to hit the country around September-end or October. There is already a shortage of doctors in the country, missing out on even one batch of upcoming doctors will deeply impact the healthcare sector in the long run,” he said.
