Of the total 458,521 students who had registered to sit for the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE)-Mains for admission to engineering colleges, at least 114,563 students dropped out from appearing in the first three days, education ministry said in a data released on Thursday.
The dropout number — approximate 25 per cent — takes the spotlight back on the demand for a change in exam dates due to the ranging Covid-19 pandemic.
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The exams began on Tuesday amid stringent precautions and social distancing measures in view of the COVID-19 pandemic even as the chorus continued to grow for postponement of the crucial exam which has already been deferred twice.
Only 343,958 went to give the exams on the first three days. About 54.67 per cent aspirants gave the exam on day one, 81 per cent gave it on day two and day three say an attendance of 82 per cent.
JEE-Mains, the first large scale exam to be conducted amid the pandemic, will continue till September 6.
Increase in the number of examination centres from 570 to 660, alternate seating plans, fewer candidates per room and staggered entry and exit are among the steps the National Testing Agency (NTA) for ensuring safe conducting of the crucial exam. “Hand sanitisers are being made available at the entrance of the examination centre and inside the exam hall at all times. The usual process of checking the admit cards of candidates has been replaced with barcode readers, which have been made available to the examination centre authorities,” an NTA official was quoted as saying.
Over 9 lakh candidates have registered for the exam for admission to engineering courses in IITs, NITs and Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs). While the governments of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh assured students that they will provide transportation to candidates, a group of IIT alumni and students also launched a portal to provide transport facilities to exam centres for the candidates in need.
Based on the results of the JEE-Mains Paper 1 and Paper 2, the top 2.45 lakh candidates will be eligible to appear for the JEE-Advanced exam, which is a one-stop exam to get admission into the 23 premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). JEE-Advanced is scheduled to take place on September 27.
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