JEE Advanced: Students affected by COVID demand extra attempt in 2022

The students who passed in 2020 had to give both of their attempts of JEE Advanced in unprecedented circumstances.

Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced examination concluded last month, since the results were announced a section of students are demanding a third attempt. Students are demanding another attempt as they had to face a lot of problems due to coronavirus.

Jyotishman Phura, a JEE aspirant says: “We students of 2020, who passed out of class 12 in 2020 suffered a lot of problems due to coronavirus. So we want one more attempt of JEE Advanced 2022.”

As per the aspirants, many students who were eligible have missed the exam this year. “In 2020 at the time of exam there were significant COVID-19 cases in the country, many places were under lockdown and there were also several travel restrictions. In 2021 at the time of the exam, there was still significant COVID-19 cases in the country. This time even though it was not as intense as last year still there were restrictions in states like Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Mizoram due to a significant number of COVID-19 cases even at the time of the exam.

“A lot of students from these states and from other parts of the country have missed the exam due to them being infected with COVID-19 / were under quarantine or because of the travel restrictions associated with travelling to exam centres very far,” reads a statement by JEE aspirants.

JEE Advanced examinations

JEE Advanced examinations are the gateway to admissions into the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

Shivam, another aspirant said: “JEE 2020 aspirants had not got a fair opportunity like other batches because of COVID so we deserve another chance in JEE 2022, because we had given both of our attempts in COVID time.”

Kushal Gaurav who hails from Kota said: “I belong to the lower middle class, unfortunately, COVID did not affect the rich people much as they do not face job-losses, parents in stress, not sure of next day meal. We went through all this in the past one and a half years. We genuinely deserve an attempt in 2022.”

The students who passed in 2020 had to give both of their attempts in JEE Advanced in unprecedented circumstances. In 2020 the exam was conducted during the peak of the first wave of COVID-19 and in 2021 the exam was conducted just after a horrific second wave of the corona.

Many students were anxious due to the continuous postponement of exams and uncertainty regarding the dates of exams on both occasions. Also, several candidates had lost their loved ones just before the exam or they themselves might have been infected by covid-19. Hence, they weren’t mentally prepared to give the exam yet still they gave the exam as it was their last attempt (fearing they won’t get another chance to fulfil their dream to become an IITian).

Annu Priya Jha, another aspirant echoing the same sentiment said: “2020 batch students faced a drastic change in the education system before 2020 we are studying in offline mode and then suddenly in online mode which affected our study So please provide us an extra attempt we really need a last chance.”

No: of students who gave JEE Advanced

A huge portion of students from rural areas who prepare for competitive exams like JEE start their preparation after the 12th. There is in general a lack of competitive awareness among those students and they are only exposed to the real competition/difficulty/importance of the JEE exam when they go to offline coaching institutes in towns and cities for JEE preparation during their drop year.
However, this year their entire drop year had to be spent at home due to continuous lockdown for several months.

Due to the mode of preparation becoming online, students from rural areas fell behind their urban counterparts more this year when compared to previous years. This was due to the digital divide between cities and villages. Students from rural areas didn’t have the technological facilities or even a proper net connection to at least access the freely available resources of JEE available online.

The students are saying that providing 2020 batch students with an additional attempt in JEE Advanced 2022 as a one-time measure will not significantly increase the competition for 12th class students and first-time droppers.

Over the years the number of candidates appearing for JEE Advanced are decreasing even though the number of eligible candidates is increasing. Yet the number of qualified candidates continues to increase. In 2019 1,61,319 candidates appeared for the exam out of which 38,705 qualified whereas in 2020 1,50,838 had appeared for JEE Advanced, out of which 43,204 qualified.

“Hence giving another opportunity for second-time droppers to appear for the JEE Advanced Exam in 2022 won’t impact the competition significantly,” mentions a letter by JEE aspirants.

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