KOLKATA: The West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination Board (WBJEEB) has decided to hold the engineering entrance test on July 17, the first public exam after the second Covid wave struck.
The WBJEE results are scheduled to be published by August 14 and the three rounds of counselling by September 15.
The exam was supposed to be held on July 11 but was postponed owing to Covid case spike.
The decision to hold the joint entrance exam comes days after the state cancelled both the Class X (Madhyamik) and Class XII (Higher Secondary) board exams.
The national boards, CBSE and CISCE, have also called off their exams to check the spread of the novel coronavirus.
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But now that Covid cases have started declining, WBJEEB will hold the exams with Covid-safety measures, like limiting the maximum number of candidates in a room to 25.
“In view of the Covid second wave and the restrictions, the date for WBJEE-2021 has been rescheduled…
The exams will be held on July 17, Saturday.
All and other aspects of the exams remain unchanged,” said WBJEE Board chairman Malayendu Saha.
This year, 92,695 candidates have applied for the exam, 60% of whom are domicile of the state.
In 2020, 88,800 candidates registered, while 73,200 appeared for the test; rank cards were handed to 72,298 students.
The number of exam centres has been increased to 274 this time.
“We have ensured the students do not have to travel long distances for the exams.
Instead, we have increased the zones and candidates can choose centres of their preference,” said a WBJEEB official.
Last year, the board modified the counselling process to engineering, architecture and pharmacy seats.
Only online counselling was held and students had to register for every round.
Also, candidates had to lock their choices after every round.
Last year, 99% of the candidates got the rank cards, which allowed students to take part in counselling.
