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Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg backs demand to postpone NEET, JEE

‘It’s deeply unfair that students of India are asked to sit national exams during the Covid-19 pandemic,’ she said.

Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg backs demand to postpone NEET, JEE

Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP)

International-level activist Greta Thunberg has joined the Indian students to embolden their voices demanding postponement of JEE and NEET exams due to the coronavirus crisis.

Greta Thunberg, who has become a global icon and has presented the issue of climate change on various international platforms said that conducting exams during coronavirus pandemic and extreme floods was “deeply unfair” on students.

Taking to Twitter, she said, “It’s deeply unfair that students of India are asked to sit national exams during the Covid-19 pandemic and while millions have also been impacted by the extreme floods. I stand with their call to #PostponeJEE_NEETinCOVID.”

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The demand to postpone the examination has spiked since the government has allowed conducting the examination. Students are urging the government to postpone the examination as the coronavirus cases are increasing every day making them vulnerable at the crowded examination centres.

The exams were scheduled to be held in April-May but they were postponed due to the spread of coronavirus and is now scheduled for September.

Later, the National Testing Agency and Medical Council of India have reiterated that the exam schedule can’t be postponed anymore as it would result in the loss of an academic year.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has also joined the voices of students in their demand to postpone the JEE and NEET examinations amid the spread of deadly coronavirus.

“Government of India must listen to the #StudentsKeMannKiBaat about NEET, JEE exams and arrive at an acceptable solution,” Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet.

“Today, lakhs of students are saying something to the government. Their concerns about the NEET, JEE examinations should be heard,” he added.

DMK chief MK Stalin had written a letter to Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal seeking postponement of the exams by saying, “Students and parents are under enormous mental stress. Considering the current restrictions on public transportation, the allotted exam centres are not uniformly accessible to all aspirants.”

However, Supreme Court has maintained that exams should happen and while refusing to defer the examinations, the top court said, “The careers of students can’t be put in jeopardy”.

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