A majority of the students who appeared for the Joint Entrance Examinations (Mains) from September 1 were unhappy with the arrangements and wrote the examinations because they 'had no other option', reveals a survey. The survey was conducted by Advocate Anubha Srivastava Shai, the India Wide Parents' Association Chief.
As many as 92.6 per cent of the students who answered the survey noted that they wanted their exams to be postponed, considering a surge in COVID cases. This is in contrast to the hard facts laid down by the Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', who said that a majority of the students and parents wanted the exams to be held as scheduled.
However, it is pertinent to note that the ongoing survey which was created on Friday midnight has 420 respondents until now — which is a smidgeon of the lakhs who have appeared for the exam. In order to avoid flaws, the students had to enter their enrollment numbers, to fill up the details. As many as 83.5 per cent of the students said that they were unhappy with the SOPs implemented in the exam centres. Since September 1, there were various claims about the same. 90.7 per cent of the students said that they wrote the exams only because they had no other choice. Only 23.3 per cent of the students used public transport to reach their examination centres.
Sahai says that she is now planning to write to the Prime Minister's Office and to the President, indicating these findings. "They have to know what the ground reality is. This is a pandemic situation and we wanted arrangements made to suit the students. They could have increased the number of examination centres too," she says. Sahai who has also been receiving a number of calls from students, talking about the issues says that a lot of examination centres across the country did not follow proper SOPs. "A lot of them managed to follow SOPs while students entered, but they were flouted while they exited the hall. There were less personnel. At the same time, the examination centres could not verify all the details," she says, adding, "A lot of students also told me that they weren't given good quality masks or gloves in the centres."
