JEE Main Exam 2020: '6.35 Lakh Candidates Out Of The 8.58 Lakh Who Registered Took Exams,' Says Education Minister

JEE Mains 2020: The JEE Main exams were held despite the massive backlash against it. Now, the Education Minister has said that 6.35 lakh candidates appeared for the exams this year.

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JEE Exam 2020: Amid the ongoing pandemic and the backlash from parents, students, and political leaders, the Joint Engineering Examinations (JEE) Main was held between September 1st and September 6th. Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has said that this year 6.35 lakh candidates out of the 8.58 lakh students who registered appeared for the exams. The minister has also shared the figure in a tweet and said  'Central & respective State Governments assured all possible assistance to the students, for which I compliment all State Governments as well. This entire effort displayed the spirit of cooperative federalism'

ALSO READ| IIT JAM 2021 Registrations Begin Today; Check Steps To Apply Online At jam.iisc.ac.in There were speculations on a dip in number after low attendance was recorded in several places on the first day of JEE Main exams. In Lucknow, 44 percent of candidates skipped the JEE exams on day one. Similarly in Ludhiana, only 45.87 per cent attempted the test. But attendance picked up from the second day of the exams according to a report by Hindustan Times, the attendance picked up on the second day of the exam when over 80 percent of students turned up for the exams. According to the Pokhriyal, the ministry has yet to ascertain the reason for students to skip the exams. In his tweet he said, 'several students who didn't appear for the exam in Sept may have done well in the January exam hence did not feel the need to sit for the exam this time. We are ascertaining those numbers.' According to The Indian Express attendance for the exam fell to 74 percent from compared to the January 2020 attendance of 94.32 percent. The report says that data shared by the National Testing Agency showed attendance for JEE (Main) was 94.11 percent in January 2019, 94.15 percent in April 2019, and 94.32 percent in January this year. Meanwhile, it is expected that the NTA, may declare the JEE Main Result 2020 soon. According to media reports, the results may be announced on September 11th, 2020. Candidates will be able to check their JEE Main results at jeemain.nta.nic.in by entering JEE Main credentials which are the application number and password/ date of birth. The NEET exams are also scheduled for September 13th.