KEAM 2020, the Kerala entrance examination for admission to various professional degree courses, will be held across the State and at centres in Mumbai, New Delhi, and Dubai on July 16 as scheduled earlier.
A meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here on Monday decided to stick to the schedule notwithstanding the concerns raised by many candidates over the spike in COVID-19 cases and triple lockdown in parts of the State. The examination has been a subject of much consternation with both students and teachers demanding its postponement on account of the critical situation in the State. The demand appeared to have gained momentum after the Centre decided to postpone the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), both Main and Advanced, and the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) to September.
However, the government chose to go ahead with the existing plan on account of the extent of preparation gone into conducting the examination. The State has also managed to identify an alternative centre in New Delhi — JC Bose University of Science and Technology, Faridabad — after the original venue (Kerala Education Society near Mandi House metro station) was deemed unviable.
According to a senior official, who attended the discussion, centres will be identified within containment zones to ensure candidates from such areas are not required to travel elsewhere. The office of the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations (CEE) will reach out to these aspirants and inform them of the alternative arrangement.
“If by any chance a candidate arrives at the originally allotted examination centre, they will be provided separate rooms to attend the examination. Similarly, separate rooms have been earmarked for students in quarantine, displaying symptoms, and those coming from other States ,” the official said.
Nearly 340 centres are there in the State and close to 1,12,000 students have registered for the examination. It will have two papers — Paper 1: physics and chemistry and Paper 2: mathematics — that will be held from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and from 2.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. respectively.
Centre change possible
Candidates from the Manikyavilakam, Poonthura and Puthenpally wards that form the critical containment zone in the State capital have been requested to contact the CEE within 11 a.m. on Tuesday to request a shift to a centre in the region.
