Last updated on September 3rd, 2020 at 04:21 pm

The risk of spread of COVID-19 has forced many students to skip the JEE Main 2020 April/September session. Even though NTA has not released the official statistics yet, the trends at various exam centres show that more than 40% students have skipped the entrance exam in the current session.

Attendance for the April/September 2020 session has been low at almost all exam centres. The numbers are contrary to the claims from the Education Ministry or NTA, who said students want to take the exam as more than 80% of the students have downloaded their JEE Main Admit Cards.

Statistics for Day 1 and Day 2 from various states-

1. Gujarat – For Day 1, 3020 students were registered for B.Arch and B.Planning Papers. However, 1664 (55%) took the exam, while 45% candidates skipped. The centre’s coordinator for Gujarat said that 25-30% students skip the exam every year, but this year it’s 15% higher.
2. Odisha – The attendance at Odisha has been better than most. Around 3,600 candidates appeared for the JEE Main exam on Day 1. Total of 38,200 candidates have registered who will be appearing in various shifts from 1st to 6th September.
3. Assam – Attendance at Assam for JEE Main 2020 was only around 50%. Assam only had 6 exam centres allocated state-wide. As per an NTA official, in Guwahati, only 200 students took the exam out of 600 registered candidates. 12,803 candidates have registered for JEE Main in Assam. The flood situation on top of COVID-19 has made it worse for residents of Assam.
4. Punjab – Ludhiana, the largest city in Punjab, also had a poor response. The number of attendees were only 178 out of 388 registered candidates. For the January 2020 session, the number was much higher at 1400.
5. Rajasthan – According to reports from Rajasthan, 1079 students were present (62%) and 667 students were absent (38%) in 1st shift. While for the 2nd shift, 681 were absent (43%) and 897 were present (57%). Overall, 1348 (68%) students skipped the exams in Rajasthan.
6. West Bengal – The CM of West Bengal, Mamta Banerjee said that 75% students skipped the JEE Main exam, even after all necessary arrangements as per central government guidelines. She said, “Out of 4,652 candidates, only 1,167 could appear for JEE Main.” Mamta Banerjee had been against conducting JEE Main and NEET exams amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
7. Uttar Pradesh – As per the stats from Lucknow, UP, only 56% could appear for JEE Main amid the fears of COVID-19. Out of 1065 applicants, 597 appeared for the exam on Day 1. Read More

Also Read

• JEE Main Day 2: B.E/B.Tech Exam Analysis, Check Students’ Reactions
• NTA Likely To Announce New Exam Dates for Flood-Hit Areas in Maharashtra, JEE Advanced 2020 Might Be Postponed
• JEE Main 2020 First Shift Concludes Amid COVID-19; Read Students’ Reactions

BJP’s Subramanian Swamy has taken the side of students on this issue. He had recently tweeted that Ministry of Education must release the info of how many students attended the JEE Main exam.

Ministry of Education must officially publish by States the % of students who took the JEE exam, which exam is simpler to administer than next week NEET. This demand is because the Ministry publicised the % who down loaded the admission entry pass. Thereafter PM must take a call

— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) September 3, 2020

The statistics from all other states of the country have been similar with low attendance from students. Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh government have pledged to provide free conveyance to students who are unable to travel to their exam centres. IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay Alumni have also launched EduRide portal to help students reach exam centres.

On the other hand, COVID-19 has taken more than 67,000 lives in India so far. The most deaths have been among the older age groups of 50+. Usually, young individuals are prone to becoming carriers of COVID-19, as they are asymptomatic for quite a long time. This is the major reason, students are skipping various entrance exams this year.