Here are some major changes made in JEE Main and NEET 2020 exams. Check details here
The coronavirus pandemic has proved to be a major dampener for the world, with our society and all its conventional operations forced on the back foot. The year 2020 has also been a testing time especially for students in our country preparing for elite competitive exams such as NEET 2020 and JEE 2020. The pandemic-induced lockdown ensured that offline coaching centres and learning institutions remain shut.
This catalyzed the emergence of the edutech industry in the country which bore the onus of providing a feasible substitute to the countless students who suddenly found themselves bereft of essential tutorage and preparatory guidance for the NEET and JEE Main 2020.
This year owing to the tumultuous disturbance ensued by the Covid-19 pandemic, the JEE mains, as well as the NEET 2020 examination, have been subjected to some changes. The NTA had brought much respite to the student applicants by permitting them to change their choice of city for the test as per their convenience.
This amendment was brought after considering the fact that a plethora of students has been abruptly dislocated from their colleges and institutions to their home towns and villages. Thus the decision to allow them to take the exam from their present locations has been greatly appreciated by the students.
Education technology
With conventional coaching houses effectively out of the picture, the students were introduced to the benefits of online learning platforms through the vast surfeit of edutech players that are presently redefining and reimagining traditional learning and pedagogy.
Armed with paradigm-shifting technology and new-age innovations such as AI, ML, and Deep Learning etc, these modern-day digital modes of purveying education and learning have seemingly vanquished the aching troubles of millions of candidates preparing for these competitive tests.
The JEE challenge
The JEE Main is a qualifying exam conducted bi-annually by the National Testing Agency for providing admission into the various undergraduate programs in NITs, IITs and other CFTIs. Due to the onslaught of the viral pandemic this year, the April session of the JEE 2020 has been duly postponed to July.
It is slated to commence in the period between 18th and 23rd of the month in dual shifts, the first occurring from 9 am till 12 noon and the second one from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
The hurdles
The JEE mains test comprises of 75 questions divided into sets of 25, each pertaining to the fields of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. Out of the 25 questions for each specialization, 20 belong to the multiple-choice question categories (MCQ) while the remaining five are numerical problems in CBT.
New developments
As opposed to the previous years, the 2020 JEE mains has witnessed a remarkable surge in the number of female applicants. While the total number of applicants for the January session of JEE-mains 2020 was 9, 34,000; the number of applicants for the July session has recorded a substantial increase.
Innovation Nation
Now, students posited to appear for these exams administered by the NTA (National Testing Agency) can take mock tests on the newly launched mobile app. This initiative is set to add a much-needed boost to their confidence while also ensuring ample practice runs before the actual bout.
Also, a number of edutech platforms are providing in-depth crash courses, live classes, E-books, mock tests and sample test papers and various other types of online study material and guidance to the students aspiring to conquer these ultra-competitive exams.
Also, for the first time ever in the history of JEE mains, the B.Planning exam will be held separately. Its examination pattern will be structured in three parts Pts I, II, III — the first one being Mathematics (same as in BArch), the second one being the Aptitude test (also like B.Arch), and the third one being the planning based MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions).
Government Push
Due to the disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus, the JEE and NEET 2020 exams have been privy to some considerable changes brought in by the government. In a bid to neutralize the various hardships and unfavourable turn of events brought down upon the students by the virulent pandemic, the government of India has launched an Artificial Intelligence-powered mobile app for mock tests for JEE Main, NEET 2020.
