Mumbai: Students preparing for admissions to medical (MBBS), dental (BDS) and pharmacy undergraduate (UG) programmes have called for the central government to release dates of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2021. The competitive examination is usually conducted once a year by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on the first Sunday of May.
Following the announcement of four attempts this year for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE Main) for admissions to engineering, architecture and technical UG programmes, students have appealed that there should be multiple attempts for NEET 2021 too. Students said the dates of NEET 2021 should be released soon and the central government should provide more than one attempt for the same considering the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kshitija Desai, a student preparing for NEET UG, said, "We have witnessed the pressing need for more doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and health care workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Multiple attempts at NEET UG will give more students a chance to clear the entrance exam and pursue the medical field."
Ravi Chittur, another student preparing for NEET UG said, "The NEET UG exam is quite tough and we need sufficient time to prepare for it. This year, the Class 12 CBSE, ISC and state board examinations have been delayed. So the NEET UG exams will probably be conducted post June 11, 2021 but, the NTA should release the final dates so that we can start preparing."
