Should NEET 2020 be held in July? HRD Ministry forms panel to decide by tomorrow

Written by Meghna A Singhania Published On 2020-07-02T16:20:20+05:30 | Updated On 2 July 2020 4:30 PM IST

Should NEET 2020 be held in July? HRD Ministry forms panel to decide by tomorrow

New Delhi: The decision on whether the much-awaited medical entrance exam, NEET 2020 is going to be held or not, is soon going to be decided upon by the government as the HRD ministry has now formed a panel to take a call on the matter and give its recommendations by tomorrow.

This came after the major debate going on after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) last week cancelled pending board exams scheduled from July 1 to 15. This led to a major hue and cry amongst the parents as well as MBBS and Engineering aspirants with many demanding that entrance exams of NEET 2020 and JEE 2020 be also be cancelled in the light of the coronavirus situation

Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ''Nishank'' said on Thursday that a panel will review the situation for conducting medical and engineering entrance exams NEET and JEE amid concerns over spike in COVID-19 cases.

While medical entrance exam NEET is scheduled on July 26, engineering entrance exam JEE is scheduled to be held from July 18-23. Parents and students have raised concerns about conducting the exams in July.

"Looking at the prevailing circumstances and requests received from students & parents appearing for JEE and NEET examinations, a committee consisting of officials from the National Testing Agency (NTA) and other experts has been advised to review the situation and submit its recommendations latest by tomorrow," Nishank said.

Besides the issue on the conduct of NEET exam, there has also been debates of the NEET exam centres. Medical Dialogues team had recently reported that around 4000.

Around 4,000 Indian students in Gulf countries, the majority from Kerala under the aegis of Kerala Muslim Culture Centre, Qatar, have now moved the Supreme Court seeking a directive to the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) to either allot centres for NEET 2020 overseas or the postpone the entrance exam till the COVID situation improves.

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Source : with agency inputs

Meghna A Singhania

Meghna A Singhania is the founder and Editor-in-Chief at Medical Dialogues. An Economics graduate from Delhi University and a post graduate from London School of Economics and Political Science, her key research interest lies in health economics, and policy making in health and medical sector in the country. She is a member of the Association of Healthcare Journalists. She can be contacted at meghna@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751