BHUBANESWAR: Over 71 per cent candidates turned up on the first day of the Odisha Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE) 2020 on Monday. Of 79,788 registered candidates, 10,717 were allotted seats for the test on day one and of which, 7,623 appeared for the exam.
OJEE committee chairman SK Chand said the exam was conducted smoothly on the first day with all social distancing measures and safety protocols. “The exam was held for lateral entry to BTech on the first day. Students appeared for the exams in three sittings. Thousands of students will also appear for the test for BTech lateral entry on the second day,” he added.
The computer-based test is being conducted at 54 centres in 21 places across Odisha and five centres in Kolkata, Patna and Ranchi. The exam will continue till October 19.
The chairman said students underwent thermal screening before entering into the examination halls. Wearing three-ply mask was mandatory for all within the campus. Candidates were also asked to sanitise hands before entering into exam halls. At some centres, authorities had installed disinfectant tunnel. Hand-held metal detectors were used for sanitisation and body frisking to make the process contactless.
Candidates appeared for the test expressed happiness over the measures adopted by the OJEE authorities.
Sources said some candidates in BTech, BTech (lateral entry) and BPharma have not been able to get the choice of their centre for the exam due to exceeding limit. They will be allowed to appear for the test in one of their preferred centres on October 22.
Similarly, thousands of students wrote the Common PG Entrance Test (CPET) 2020, conducted by the Higher Education department for admission in the State-run universities and colleges on the first day. The entrance test will continue till October 22 for admission to over 14,000 seats in 83 PG courses.