Amidst unprecedented precautionary measures, students appeared for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-Mains) 2020, that kicked off on Tuesday.
Postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Testing Agency (NTA) finally commenced the JEE Main examination amidst protests over the safety of students.
In Andhra Pradesh, a total of 82,748 students are writing the exam at 52 centres in the 13 districts of the State. The last exam is on September 6.
Staggered entry and exit of candidates, mandatory use of hand sanitiser at the gates, distribution of masks and maintaining social distancing was implemented at the exam centres. Students seeking seats in top Architecture and Planning colleges wrote the test on Tuesday and from Wednesday, the number of engineering undergraduates aspiring admission into IITs, NITs and other Centrally-funded technical institutes in the country, will increase manifold.
In Vijayawada city, the exams are being conducted at five centres — Potti Sriramulu Engineering College, Ion Digital Zone campus in Kandriga and another one on Donka Road in Patamata, NRI College at Agiripally and Usha Rama College of Engineering and Technology at Telaprolu near Vijayawada.
“All officials at the exam centres have been asked to strictly adhere to the COVID-19 protocol. We are giving masks to every student coming to write the exam, besides ensuring use of sanitisers,” said G. Barnabas, Coordinator of the JEE Main examination for Vijayawada city.
Besides facing the twin challenges of the exam pressure and fear of contracting the virus, absence of public transport facility has added to the students’ woes.
“With the State Road Transport Corporation buses staying off roads, there was no public transport facility to reach the exam centre. Auto-rickshaw drivers fleeced hapless students,” said Oruganti Kalpana, a student.
Students and parents were divided in their opinion on the government’s decision on conducting the exam amidst the pandemic. While a parent said that students had worked hard to prepare for these highly competitive exams and they could lose their momentum due to repeated postponements, another parent pointed to the risk involved in making thousands of students travel from one location to the other and share a common space for hours. “This is exactly the kind of contact the governments have been trying to prevent,” a parent said.
