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Calcutta, April 19: City students are disappointed that the Joint Entrance Examination has been pushed back and are fearful that the new dates may clash with all-India tests.
Most of the 76,000 students who were to write the JEM tomorrow are planning to appear for more than one competitive exam for admission to medical and engineering colleges.
JEM board officials have said they would try to avoid a date clash but this means the JEM cannot be held in the next one month.
“I will be appearing in three entrance tests — the state JEM, the All India Engineering Entrance Test (AIEEE) and the all-India Pre-Medical Test (PMT). The AIEEE will be held on April 27 and the PMT on May 11. Now that the JEM has been postponed, my study schedule has been totally upset,” said Tapas Barui, an examinee from south Calcutta.
Debolina Chatterjee (name changed), a student from the northern fringes of the city, fears she will be too exhausted by the time the JEM finally takes place. Debolina is writing the JEM, PMT and JIPMER, another national-level medical entrance test.
“I have heard that the Joint Entrance Examination board will not be able to hold the test in May because of the panchayat elections. This means it will have to be held after JIPMER on June 8. I have been poring over books since last December as I had to appear in my Class XII board exams in March. I am already exhausted. I am sure I will lose interest if I have to stretch my preparations after June 8.”
The worst-affected, however, are the JEM candidates from outside the state, numbering over 13,000.
“I have come all the way from Patna. I heard about the leak when I reached Howrah station at 2pm. Confused, I rushed to the board office at Salt Lake where officials said the exam had been deferred,” said Mitilesh Kumar.
Many students from Ranchi, Jamshedpur and other places were seen inquiring about the revised exam date at the board office this afternoon.
The JEM board has stopped setting up centres in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Guwahati from this year.
