The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE - Mains) will be held four times starting February 2021. Union Minister for Education Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ made the announcement on Thursday during an online interaction with teachers, parents and students on board exams and competitive exams. Usually JEE-Mains are held twice a year.
According to reports, the test will be conducted every month from February to May 2021 in order to provide candidates with enough flexibility. The candidates can choose to appear in one or all of the tests and the highest score among all the appearances of the candidate will be considered for the rank list and admissions. He also said that while the syllabus for the examination will remain unchanged, a proposal to permit the students to answer 75 questions out of the total 90 questions is under consideration. During JEE 2020 (Mains), the candidates had to answer 75 questions -- 25 questions each in Physics, Chemistry and Maths.
The score in JEE-Mains is considered for admissions into National Institutes of Technology (NITs), several other engineering and architecture courses and for eligibility to write JEE- Advanced. Candidates aspiring for a seat in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) across the country are expected to clear JEE-Advanced.
In 2020, JEE- Mains were conducted from September 1 to September 6 across the country. Initially scheduled to take place in April-May, the exam was postponed to July due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then finally to September. Though several stakeholders including students and parents moved the Supreme Court for further postponement citing safety concerns, the apex court refused to grant them any relief. The National Testing Agency (NTA), which is the regulatory agency conducting the exams assured the court that several arrangements will be in place to ensure that the exams are held without any hassles for the students. The NTA had told the court that the number of exam centres have been increased to ensure physical distancing among the candidates, regular disinfection of the premises, staggered entry and exit of students etc have been arranged to ensure that the students do not contract COVID-19.