Newly appointed Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan has a fresh storm to counter as JEE aspirants flooded his Twitter demanding changes in the schedule for the third and fourth sessions of the JEE Mains exam. The exams, which were originally slated to happen in April and May were postponed in light of the second wave of the pandemic. The students are agitating against the gap of a mere two days between the third and fourth attempts, saying that it hacks away at the crucial time they need to reassess their performance and prepare for their final attempt. The sessions are scheduled to be held from July 27 - August 2.

In a letter to the minister, posted on Twitter, the students acknowledged the need to conduct the exams immediately in the midst of the threat of a third wave delaying the start of the academic year; the National Testing Agency (NTA) needs to then conduct the JEE Advanced exams too. However, the aspirants stress that the decision was not taken in the interest of the students' future, and have demanded that the gap be increased from two to about 15-20 days. They have also pointed out that while the Ministry of Education said they would be giving at least a 15-day notice before conducting the exam, they had only released the notification 13 days before the exam.

Students, on Twitter, have also been calling out the stress this puts on their mental health in a situation as dire as a pandemic, where people have been suffering from loss of loved ones and the disease itself. The crunch of time has also let the dates clash with the entrance exams of other universities, putting additional pressure on the students. 

Some have even expressed displeasure at the measly three days given to fill the application form, calling the entire notice, “ridiculous”.