(The Editor's Pick is a new newsletter from The Hindu that provides a snapshot of the most important stories from today's edition of our newspaper, along with a note from our top editors on why we chose to give prominence to these stories.) A day after it was reported that the Ministry of Home Affairs is having a rethink on the dates for NEET and JEE, the CMs of seven States ruled by parties other than the BJP decided to approach the Supreme Court against holding the exams in September. In a meeting attended by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, the non-BJP CMs focused on the issues of exams and GST payouts from the Centre. The decision to approach the Supreme Court comes just days after the apex court rejected an appeal by students to postpone the exams. The issue that started with students protesting on social media is now becoming more and more political with the Congress deciding to hold protests across the country on Friday, and regional political forces such as the DMK and AAP also raising concerns. Two BJP allies, the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and the LJP in Bihar, are also opposed to holding the exams. Over 15 lakh students have already downloaded their admit cards for the September dates. The Higher Education Secretary has stated that if the exams do not happen in September, they may have to be pushed all the way to December due to Diwali and other festivals in the intervening months. This would mean the results are out only in January 2021, and that the 2020 academic year is a washout. The full academic year of lakhs of students that is at stake and the increasing political involvement make the story of relevance. |
Post a Comment