Did we commit a sin by writing JEE during COVID, students ask Pokhriyal, demand extra attempt

Students who had appeared for the JEE (Advanced) this year and have exhausted their last chance have taken to tweeting to the Minister of Education on Twitter, seeking another chance. While the minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' has planned a live interaction with the students on December 10, students are using the same hashtag #EducationMinisterGoesLive to raise their demands.

Soon after the examination, it was decided that the students who missed the entrance this year will be allowed another chance the following year. "But what about the students who wrote the examination in 2020 and exhausted their last chance?" asks a student in her video message to the minister. "We had to go through a lot to make it to the examination at that time. So many of us were stuck in villages without proper internet connection and access to study materials," she says, asking the ministry to consider their demand.

"Did we commit a sin by writing the exam? Had we not attempted it this year, we would have gotten another chance," she says. In November, a group of 283 students had written to the directors of all the Indian Institutes of Technology, seeking an extra attempt for all the students who exhausted their last attempt at cracking the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) in 2020, amid the pandemic. The copies of the letter were also sent to the NTA and the Ministry of Education.

The MOE and the NTA are however yet to respond on this matter.