Amid the demands from Indian students and parents to postpone the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) and the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) 2020 in view of the surge in COVID-19 cases, Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg took to Twitter to show her support.
Seeking the postponement of the NEET and JEE scheduled to be held in September 2020, Thunberg tweeted: "It’s deeply unfair that students of India are asked to sit national exams during the Covid-19 pandemic and while millions have also been impacted by the extreme floods. I stand with their call to #PostponeJee_NEETinCOVID"
On August 17, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking the postponement of the NEET and JEE scheduled to be held in September 2020. The National Testing Agency (NTA) has announced that the JEE (Main) will be held from September 1 to 6 and NEET (UG) on September 13.
While around 25 lakh students are expected to sit for this years NEET and JEE, the National Testing Agency has made it mandatory for the students to give an undertaking that they "are neither COVID-19 positive nor have any symptoms for the same."
Besides COVID-19, which has wreaked havoc on the nation, many parts of the country are yet to recover from the recent floods that have ravaged people's livelihoods.
(With inputs from agencies)
