The Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for admission to
engineering courses and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET)
for admission to medical courses, were to be held in May-June, but were
postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. JEE is scheduled to be held from
September 1 to 6, while NEET will be conducted on September 13.

The Supreme Court had last
week dismissed a plea seeking postponement of the two exams amid spurt in the
number of COVID-19 cases, saying precious year of students “cannot be
wasted” and life has to go on.

Since many parents have raised concerns over the health of
their children who will be appearing for these exams, the National Testing
Agency (NTA) has issued a detailed advisory on their website to assure that strict
guidelines will be followed to ensure safety of candidates and teachers at the
examination centres. 

The guidelines issued have been categorized into three
stages of the exam day activity namely: Pre-Examination Controls/ Measures,
Exam Conduct Controls, Post Examination Controls.

·        
Pre-Examination Controls / Measures

The Pre-Examination Controls include allocation of exam
seats maintaining safe social distance, training staff on social distancing norms,
ensuring availability of inventories such as gloves and masks for staff and candidates.
These measures will also ensure availability of disinfectants, sanitizers at
entry and inside the examination centres as needed, spray bottles, sponges/cloth for disinfecting items such as desk/table, door handles, etc. All
those present at the examination centres will have to go through thermal check-ups
before entering.

·        
Exam Conduct Controls

The exam conduct controls will make sure that safety is
ensured while the exam is being conducted. There will be live CCTV streaming,
manual signatures to avoid use of thumb impressions, washroom management and
social distance management.

·        
Post Examination Controls

The post examination controls put in place will look after proper
disposal of masks and gloves while leaving the exam centres. On completion of
exam, the candidates will be permitted to move out in an orderly manner- one
candidate at a time,  volunteers will be
assigned to make sure all norms are in place.

Admit cards for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) will be released shortly, the National Testing Agency (NTA) said in a statement on Tuesday.