New Delhi: Congress MP Manickam Tagore has called on the National Testing Agency (NTA) to prolong the application deadline for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains, citing technical difficulties that hindered many students from submitting their applications on time. In a post on the social media platform X, Tagore highlighted that server slowdowns impacted thousands of students, especially during the final moments of submission. He tweeted, “Dear @dpradhanbjp, Thousands of students encountered issues while submitting their #JEEMains application due to server slowdowns from last-minute traffic. To ensure fairness, NTA should extend the deadline by at least 2 days so that no aspirant is left behind. Urgent action needed!”
In other news, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has proposed a significant change to the Class X examination system, introducing two board exams per year starting from the 2025-26 academic session. This reform aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and aims to alleviate academic pressure by providing students with an additional opportunity to improve their scores. The proposal was discussed in a high-level meeting at the Ministry of Education, chaired by the Union Minister of Education. A draft policy regarding this reform was released on Tuesday and is available on the CBSE website (https://www.cbse.gov.in). Feedback from schools, teachers, parents, and students is invited until March 9, 2025.
The NEP 2020 advocates for conducting Class X and XII board exams twice a year to minimize student stress and offer more chances for improvement. The policy promotes a transition from rote learning to competency-based assessment, enabling students to retain their best scores while making the examination process more flexible and accommodating. According to the draft policy, the first phase of exams will occur from February 17 to March 6, with the second phase scheduled from May 5 to May 20. In 2026, around 26.60 lakh Class X students and 20 lakh Class XII students are expected to participate in the exams.