Gurgaon: Only 719 out of 1,200 students turn up on last day of JEE

GURGAON: Only 719 candidates appeared for the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) on the sixth day of the exam at the three centres in the city on Sunday.
Being conducted amid a widespread protest across the country, JEE (Main) was carried out over six days, starting September 1. Overall, 6,914 candidates had enrolled to take the exams, of which 5,249 (75%) took the exams held between September 1 and 6 at three centres —DPG College in Sector 34, Basant Valley Global School in Sector 49 and Gurgaon Techno World in Sector 14.
On Sunday, the last of the entrance exam for the admissions in the engineering courses like BE, B Tech and B Arch, a total of 1,205 candidates were supposed to take the exam. However, only 719 candidates turned up.
JEE exams were off to a slow start on September 1. Only 52% of the total 866 candidates had appeared in the centers on the first day of the exam. After the initial hiccup, the exams had however streamlined from day 2 of the exam schedule. All centers reported roughly around 85% attendance between September 2 and 4. The dip, however, came during the weekend. While 78% of the candidates took the exam on Saturday, on Sunday less than 60% of candidates reported to the centers.
“We can’t presume the reasons for the dip during the weekend but overall the attendance was quite satisfactory given the fact that the exams were conducted amid opposition from the student bodies and even a few political groups. It was only the first day and the last day of the exam that the attendance ratio was concerning, otherwise over 85% of students appeared for the exams daily,” said an official deployed in one of the examination centers.
Speaking about the exams and preparation at the centre, students shared their satisfaction with the adherence to social distancing and other Covid-19 norms. “Overall arrangement was satisfactory. We did have apprehensions about giving exams during the pandemic, but once we entered the centre it was only about the exams,” said Preeti, one of the aspirants.
A few students blamed the location of the centres — Gurgaon and Faridabad, where Covid cases are high —for the low turnout of candidates. “I did face issues coming from Rewari. I managed with one of my friends but not everyone could. That’s why attendance was so low. Transportation is yet to stabilise in villages. Government should have considered creating more accessible centres,” said a student who didn’t wish to be named.