Twitterati has backed Hemant Soren’s stand of postponing JEE and NEET exams in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic with nearly 1.5 lakh voting in favour of rescheduling the exams in a straw poll conducted by the chief minister on his official Twitter handle.
Hemant conducted a 24-hour-poll on whether postponing the competitive exams would affect the academic future of students and asked them to vote. The poll ended at Monday midnight and the results showed that over 78 per cent were in favour of postponing the exams.
“I want to particularly ask and seek feedback from all my young engineer and doctor friends - Will students face huge difficulties if #JEENEET exams are postponed?” Hemant Tweeted on Monday and gave three options: yes, no and I don’t know.
The poll results showed that 78.2 per cent of the 1,87,730 voters were in favour of postponing the exams, while 20.6 per cent were of the opinion that postponing the exams would adversely affect academic careers of students. Around 1 per cent who voted did not know if postponing the exams would benefit the students or harm them.
While the poll results gave a clear indication of what students want, the chief minister also received requests from the student community to get the exams postponed, citing probable violation of social distancing at examination centres.
“Sir, we are literally begging for our lives and future. Please help us. We will never forget this if you will help us in such hard time please sir please postpone the exam postpone please do something sir,” tweeted Anushka Choudhary, who uses the handle, Anushka0526 handle.
Some students also shared pictures of examination centres to highlight the lack of adherence to social distancing norms. “Sir @HemantSorenJMM consider this too!Plz save us from writing these large scale exms in sept .plz try to understand even our mental conditions,” wrote Twitter user Ayesha Khaki Hussain, sharing a quote from an AIIMS doctor, which stated that more young people were getting infected by Covid-19 virus.
Hemant had written to Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank last week, requesting him to postpone the exams. In the letter, the chief minister pointed to the risk of spread of infection, adding that with public transport not operating in the state, many candidates would face difficulties in reaching examination centres.
“Tonight I'm worried & tensed as India continues to record over 75000 Covid 19 cases every single day. Yet our Union Education Minister @DrRPNishank ji is not even remotely concerned about the safety & health concerns of lakhs of students made to write #JEENEET exams in September,” Hemant tweeted on Monday.
National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) are scheduled to be held in September. Ministers from six states, including Jharkhand, have also moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to postpone the exams and also reviewing its earlier order in the matter. The apex court had on August 17 dismissed a petition seeking the postponement of the NEET and JEE scheduled observing that the career of students cannot be put under jeopardy for long.
More than 45,000 students are likely to appear for the exams across 40 centres in five cities in Jharkhand.
