Repeated delay in exams causing stress among students: Experts

Neha Saini

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 20

The National Testing Agency (NTA) postponed April session for JEE (Main) 2021 in view of the Covid-19 pandemic adding to the series of announcements of delay or cancellation of exams due to the virus.

The UGC-National Eligibility Test (NET) scheduled to be held from May 2 to 17 has also been postponed in view of the pandemic, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ announced on Tuesday.

While the move is being considered a necessary intervention under the given circumstances, the repeated delay in conduct of competitive exams is causing stress among students, say experts.

Dinesh Paneri, academic mentor and managing partner at FITJEE, said, “The situation is not new as earlier too, there had been a lot of uncertainty over the conduct of competitive exams such as JEE and NEET. Although, concerned authorities tried to consider all possible options under the given circumstances, the delay is already causing stress and anxiety among students. Not just the delay, but the ambiguity on the matter of conduct of multiple competitive exams has had a negative impact on a lot of students and this might affect their academic performance. The four-phase conduct of JEE Mains by the NTA, I believe, was not a wise step. Instead, the exam should have been taken earlier, in offline mode, on a single date, following safety restrictions.”

Uttamjit Singh from Wisdom Institute, which provides coaching for JEE and NEET, too shared similar views. “A lot of students are giving up due to the frustration of repeating the entire process of preparing for competitive exams. It’s not easy as it requires discipline and focus and exam re-scheduling has made this tenuous for students,” he said.

He said not just JEE (Main) but several other exams, including NEET and those conducted by state service commissions, too had been re-scheduled. “For ambitious students, their entire academic year is being compromised and it becomes imperative to find plausible solutions,” he added.

“One has to make extra efforts to start the entire process of revision, preparing lessons for exams. The delay is frustrating and if it continues, we might face a situation where we’ll have to prepare for CBSE boards and competitive exams simultaneously,” said Sparsh Goenka, a student from DAV Public School, who was supposed to take JEE (Main) in April.

Manav Goyal, who got 99.85 percentile in JEE (Main) March-phase, was due to take the exam again in April. He said the uncertainty in the matter was more worrying than the exam re-scheduling. “One ends up waiting for another date despite all preparation. Also, we have to plan the entire academic year. With so many delays and postponement, it becomes difficult to consider all options.”