Day 1, JEE-Mains Exam: Less Than 50% Students Report In A Lot Of Places

The first day of the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Main was conducted on September 1 across the country as per the schedule, despite the widespread criticism from the students, activists, and the chief ministers of several non-BJP ruled states. The most important examination, JEE-Main, began on Tuesday and continued till September 6.

The decision to conduct the Joint Engineering Exams (JEE) exams and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) by National Testing Agency across the country had many controversies regarding the postponement of the medical and engineering examinations in the wake of the coronavirus. However, it took place on Tuesday.

According to students who appeared for the JEE examination, the paper was ‘moderately difficult’ on day 1, Firstpost reported. Some JEE Main Paper 2 analysis from coaching institutes also showed that the Mathematics section was the most difficult with numerical questions.

Protocols for the safety of the students and their families were made clear before the examinations. Candidates were asked for their cooperation during the exams. The self-declaration form for JEE Mains 2020 was to be filled and submitted at the exam centre. Thermal screening, social distancing had to be maintained at all times. Sanitizers and masks were to be used all the time.

However, the students who attended the JEE examination on day 1 and some Twitteratis, later, took to Twitter to share their experiences on the protocols being not properly implemented.

Take a look at some of the videos which the users have shared:

https://twitter.com/DipikaAcharya__/status/1300692822333353985

In Ludhiana, only 178 JEE Main candidates appeared in both the shifts at ION Digital Centre Sherpur by the Tata Consultancy Service, Indian Express reported.

In West Bengal, despite the state government’s order to all state transport utilities to commence bus services for them given the exam, several candidates faced hurdles due to heavy rain and the lack of transportation facility. “I had to hire a cab to reach the centre at TCS Gitobitan in Salt Lake from Khardah (North 24 Parganas) as no direct bus was available. It would have been easier if the trains plied,” Subham Das, one of the candidates, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Assam and Dehradun recorded the biggest jump in the number of aspirants appearing for the exam. With six exam centres, less than 50% of attendance was recorded in Assam.

In Delhi, Ola and Uber drivers’ strike added more problems to the candidates who were appearing for the exams.

Around 45% of candidates from Gujarat skipped the day-1 of JEE-Main. The state government had earlier said that a total of 38,167 students had registered for the exam being conducted by the NAT. However, out of 3,020 registered students, only 1,664 were present.

Whereas, in Maharashtra’s Nagpur and Jharkhand, the JEE exam was conducted ‘peacefully’.

Many candidates from the flood areas were unable to attend the examination conducted by NTA. However, the NTA has undertaken before the Bombay court on Tuesday to consider the representations from those students.

JEE-Main 2020 was supposed to be conducted in April. Due to the dreadful coronavirus pandemic, it was postponed several times. Many students along with the political leaders protested together to further postpone the examination. But none of their efforts came to force as Supreme Court had rejected their plea to postpone their entrance examination.

Featured image credits: @DipikaAcharya_