NEW DELHI: Amid rising pressure from various quarters to postpone the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the Centre on Tuesday decided to increase the number of centres for these examinations to ensure proper social distancing.
The National Testing Agency under the Union education ministry, which is responsible for organising the tests, said the number of examination centres has been increased from 570 to 660 in case of JEE Main, while it has gone up to 3,843 from 2,546 for NEET.
The agency also said that in case of JEE (Main), the number of shifts has been raised from earlier 8-12, and the number of candidates per shift has been reduced from 1.32 lakh to 85,000. The NTA said that to ensure proper social distancing inside the examination halls, the candidates will be seated in alternate seats. The number of candidates per room has been reduced from earlier 24 to 12 now. “For ensuring social distancing outside the examination hall, the entry and exit of candidates has been staggered,” said a statement by NTA.