JEE Advanced 2021: What EduMin Will Say On January 7 And What Students Want

Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal has lately been actively announcing competitive exams' dates one by one. First JEE Main 2021, the CBSE 2021 and now JEE Advanced 2021. In a tweet, he says, "My dear students, I will announce the eligibility criteria for admission in #IITs & the date of #JEE Advanced on 7th Jan at 6 PM. Stay tuned!" Thus, students have listed their demands and are eagerly waiting for EduMin to provide them with some relief.

Along with the date and eligibility, the education minister may also announce other important details. These may include an increase in the number of attempts for the JEE Advanced 2021 exam exactly like JEE Main examination. Students must also know that JEE Advanced 2021 will be open for 3rd attempt only for students who couldn’t appear for the exams. IIT-JAB announced on October 13, 2020, that students who qualified JEE mains 2020 can appear for JEE Advanced 2021 directly, without qualifying the JEE Mains 2021 examination if they couldn't appear for exams "due to COVID-19".

What will the minister say?

According to his tweet, the Minister will announce the dates and the eligibility criteria for admission into IITs. If the situation is similar to how he announced CBSE dates, then the above is the limit. Most of the details will then come out on the official website. Mr Pokhriyal may not answer all questions but students have been hoping for an additional attempt in 2021.

JEE Advanced 2020 eligibility criteria

In 2020, to appear for JEE Advanced, the candidates had to fit into all of these criteria (minus a year). If this is carried forward, here's the eligibility criterion for JEE Advanced 2021

First: Candidates should have compulsorily passed JEE Main 2021 (Paper 1). It is also necessary for them to be among the top 2,50,000 candidates

Second: For JEE Advanced 2021, the candidates should have been born on or after October 1, 1996. However, SC, ST and PwD candidates will get a relaxation of 5 years (born on or after October 1, 1991).

Third: Candidates can attempt JEE Advanced maximum two times in two consecutive years.

Fourth: All candidates should have qualified the 10+2 examination in 2020 or 2021 for the first time. However, if the result is declared for the academic year 2018-19 after June 2019, then the candidates of that board who appeared for their 12th standard qualifying exam in 2019 will also be termed eligible for JEE Advanced 2021 if they also meet the other eligibility criteria.

What do students want?

Look at this reply under Mr Pokhriyal's tweet:

Please provide an Extra Attempt to 2019 12th passed candidates who had their last attempt in #JEEAdvanced 2020
COVID and Lockdown caused numerous hardships for students in the last phase of #IIT prep
Please take Extraordinary decisions in Extraordinary times @EduMinOfIndia

— Tanmay (@Indian23231) January 4, 2021

This is not just one, a survey from CiOL saw that many students want an extra attempt in JEE Advanced 2021. For instance, a Twitter account JEE Advanced last attempters said, “Jee Mains has 3 attempts and advanced, two attempts. The students who missed their last attempt in the pandemic, or could not perform well deserve another chance.” The list of grievances endless.

Read More: Students speak: Is a third attempt for JEE Advanced a plausible idea?