The National Testing Agency (NTA) issued fresh guidelines for students appearing for the JEE, NEET 2020 exams amid the coronavirus pandemic. The guidelines clearly state that it is mandatory for students to wear masks and hand gloves while also carrying a water bottle of their own along with hand sanitizer when they enter their exam centres. The location of the exam centre will be shared through a link a few days before the exams begin in September, with their admit card including all detailed instructions on social distancing. Students entering the exam centre will have to undergo a thermal scan in order to gain access, with each institution also including "isolation rooms" for candidates, whose temperature is found to be above 99.4 degrees fahrenheit.
A provision to accommodate symptomatic candidates has been made by the NTA, while also seeking a self-declaration from them stating that they "do not have any coronavirus-like symptoms or suffer from COVID-19 or have not been in touch with anybody who tested positive recently". As of now, it is unclear whether candidates from containment zones will be permitted to appear for their exams considering they may be asymptomatic and could possibly have come in contact with a person who tested positive for the novel coronavirus recently.
With the fresh guidelines issued by the NTA, there is a likelihood that the Centre may go ahead next with the plan to conduct the national entrance exams for the IITs, and medical courses, despite strong opposition against the exams with calls for them to be postponed in view of the COVID-19 restrictions in many states. This latest development has come after the NTA issued admit cards just a few days back for the JEE (Mains) exam scheduled to be held between September 1 and 6, with more than 8.6 lakh students set to appear, while the NEET (UG) will be conducted across urban centres for about 15 lakh students.
NTA's guidelines advisory to safely conduct the examinations state the reporting time will be staggered. It read, "This is being done to ensure uniform distribution of candidates across rooms for entering an examination centre,". Each student will be required to wash their hands with soap and water before they enter the exam hall. However, there will be no water dispenser to avoid spreading the contagion. A fresh three-ply mask will also be given to candidates on entering the exam centre where they will be asked to dispose of the old one.