The opposition party leaders have petitioned for a review of the Supreme Court ruling and sent letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reconsideration. On the contrary, almost 150 academics have signed a plea welcoming the government’s decision to hold exams NEET(UG)/JEE (Mains) 2020.
News18.com spoke to a few of the petitioners on what prompted them to write to PM Modi in support of the government’s decision to hold both the exams as scheduled in September. The signatories expressed that “Some are trying to play with the future of our students simply to propel their own political agenda.”
In a recent study, The Lancet found that without high levels of testing and contact tracing, “reopening of schools together with gradual relaxing of the lockdown measures are likely to induce a second wave that would peak in December 2020, if schools open full-time in September, and in February 2021, if a part-time rota system were adopted. In either case, the second wave would result in R rising above 1 and a resulting second wave of infections 2·0–2·3 times the size of the original COVID-19 wave.”
CB Sharma, former chairman NIOS
“We are concerned about the institutions and we must get normal soon. This is just not about our country but slowly the world is learning to live with the virus. Everyone is going to live with the new normal. There was a notification by the British government on opening up schools. Due to the lockdown our children are suffering, we are concerned about their future. They will not be get jobs, and might be discriminated against in the market because there will be assumption that they did not study well. Today, those who are insisting on postponing the exams must not forget 2024 will also come. How will the batch of 2020 be seen? “Oh you were not tough!” If we don’t start now, students will suffer. The political parties don’t understand the way the students of 2020 will be treated in future. All safety will be taken care of by the government.”
Professor Bhupendra Vikram Singh, BHU
“It was important for us to sign this letter as we must learn to live with the new normal. The markets are open and also some workplaces, why should academic activity come to a halt? People are taking precautions, the places are crowded and scenes are very similar to pre-Covid times. The academics, too, should learn to live with the pandemic and get moving. We can’t wait for the pandemic to get over. If we don’t do this, then the students won’t find opportunity in the market. The opposition to exams is only political without any understanding of the repercussions it will have on the economy.”
Sanjeev Kumar Sharma, Vice-Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Motihari (Bihar)
“I am in Bihar and I hear students in the media expressing how worried they are about disasters. The classes are on despite these fears. All arrangements are made for the new normal. We need to come out of these apprehensions and see how the world is slowly opening, with shops abuzz, people going for work with precautions. Some people have instilled fear in children, which is misplaced. The students should have trust in the arrangement. Our children are also going to universities. We can’t spoil an academic year and it’s an entrance exam, the politicians should leave education to the people who are in the domain of it or able in taking decisions in their area of expertise.”
The Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar on Wednesday said NEET and JEE exams should be held as scheduled in September to avoid “further anxiety” among students.
“Both JEE and NEET should be held as planned in September. This is not the right time to create further anxiety in students’ minds by insisting on postponement of these exams. Even the Supreme Court has said that ‘life must go on’ and students ‘cannot waste a whole year’,” he posted on Twitter.
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