West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday claimed only 25% of the JEE aspirants in the state appeared for the exam and the rest were deprived due to the Centre’s “adamant attitude” of holding the examination amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have raised serious concern over the Centre’s decision to hold terminal examination, in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic, for various courses in colleges and universities and to conduct NEET and JEE in September. Unfortunately, the Centre refused to postpone it,” she said.
Banerjee said after inquiry she found out that of the 4,652 JEE aspirants in the state, only 1,167 attended and the rest could not make it due to COVID-19 and the travelling restrictions. “We made all the arrangements but aspirants failed to appear for the examination. It is unfortunate that the central government could even think once about the future of the aspirants,” she said.
“The students only requested the government to postpone it for a few weeks but their requests were turned down. Who has given them (Centre) the right to destroy the careers of young students across the country? Why are they so adamant?” she asked.
In recent weeks, Mamata has tweeted that the Centre should postpone the examination for the safety and security of the students.
Her recent tweets reads, “In our last video conference with the Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi Ji, I had been vocal against the UGC guidelines mandating completion of terminal examinations in Universities/Colleges by the end of September 2020, which had a huge potential to put student lives at risk.”
She further tweeted, “Now with the directive of @EduMinOfIndia to conduct NEET, JEE 2020 in Sep, I would again appeal to the Centre to assess the risk and postpone these examinations until the situation is conducive again. It is our duty to ensure a safe environment for all our students.”
Earlier, on July 11, 2020, Mamata wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his urgent intervention regarding UGC decision to compulsorily conduct terminal examination for various courses in colleges and universities in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic
While expressing concern over the UGC’s circular – Mamata stressed that the revised guidelines of UGC on conducting terminal examination in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic for various courses in colleges and universities is against the interest of the health, safety and future of students.
“In the prevailing situation, such revised guidelines issued by the UGC, will only adversely affect the interest of students of West Bengal and all over the country. I understand that various states have already raised the issue with the government of India expressing their concerns and disagreement with the new guidelines,” the state chief minister had said.
She further added, “I would, therefore, kindly request you (PM Modi) to get the matter re-examined immediately and restore the earlier advisory of UGC. This will facilitate state governments to implement its decision, taken on the basis of the guidelines of UGC, issued on April 29, 2020 to protect the interest of the students at national and international levels. You will kindly appreciate that the students and teaching community are the assets of our country and the world. We must take proper care of their physical and mental well-being. They should not feel upset.”
Comments
0 comment