The entrance tests for nursing courses on August 22 will be held in two shifts to maintain the physical distancing norm as there are too many applicants.

“Over 1.45 lakh candidates will write the exams,” said an official of the state joint entrance examination board, which conducts the tests.

The in-person exams for admission into nursing and midwifery courses in various government and self-financed institutes will be held across 255 centres from 11am to 12.30pm and from 2pm to 3.30pm.

The shift and timing will be printed on the admit cards of the candidates.

A notice signed by JEE board chairman Malayendu Saha says: “A huge number of candidates have applied…. As such, to avoid any chance of crowding in examination centres, the examination will be conducted in two shifts.”

When the information brochure for the exam was published in March, it was announced that the exam would be conducted in a single shift from 11am to 12.30pm.

“We have taken a decision factoring in the circumstances. Amid the pandemic it was advisable that we split the exam into two shifts so that the Covid protocol could be maintained. This will reduce the scope of crowding,” Saha said.

A JEE board official said the admission tests for the engineering, architecture and pharmacy courses, which were written by 70,000 candidates, were held across 274 centres.

“For the nursing courses, as many as 1,45,474 candidates have applied, more than double the number of JEE candidates. It was necessary to split the exam into two shifts to avoid gatherings as much as possible,” he said.

There will be a break of one-and-a-half hours between two shifts so that the dispersal of the crowd from the first slot can take place properly.

If required, the centre-in-charge can get the venue sanitised during the break.

Another JEE board official said if they were to hold the exams in a single shift for such a large number of candidates, as many as 550 centres would have been required. “Such a large number of centres would have posed challenges,” he said.

Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Narendrapur, will hold tests to screen students for admission to Class V at seven centres, in November, so that distancing norms can be maintained.

Last year, the test was held at the two venues — the Narendrapur school and Ramakrishna Mission School at Uripok Bachaspati Leikai in Imphal, Manipur.