This story is from July 7, 2020

Assam engineering entrance CEE 2020 likely to be postponed

A crucial meeting of the steering committee, looking into the engineering entrance exam, took place on Monday. Though, a decision on rescheduling the CEE 2020 was not taken, insiders in the committee said that it will have another round of discussion soon after the lockdown in Guwahati opens, to decide on conducting the exam on the scheduled exam date which is August 2.
Assam engineering entrance CEE 2020 likely to be postponed
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GUWAHATI: The state-level engineering entrance test, Combined Entrance Examination (CEE) 2020, may get postponed for the third time since April amidst Covid-19 lockdown in Guwahati and possibility of lockdown imposition in new areas due to the spiking number of positive cases in the state.
A crucial meeting of the steering committee, looking into the engineering entrance exam, took place on Monday.
Though, a decision on rescheduling the CEE 2020 was not taken, insiders in the committee said that it will have another round of discussion soon after the lockdown in Guwahati opens, to decide on conducting the exam on the scheduled exam date which is August 2.
For the first time, the CEE 2020 was scheduled to be held in April, but due to the lockdown, the entrance test was postponed till June 28. But as the Covid situation did not improve by that time, a decision was again taken to postpone the exam till August 2.
Again, considering the increasing number of positive cases and the decision of the state government to keep the educational institutions closed till July-end has compelled the steering committee members to contemplate for an alternate exam date. "In the entire month of July, the schools and colleges will remain closed. No one can confirm whether they will open in the beginning of August. There is a possibility that the exam will be postponed," said an insider in the committee.
As the JEE and NEET examinations, conducted at all-India level for admission to undergraduate engineering and medical courses respectively, have also been postponed to September due to the pandemic, the engineering aspirants from Assam were eagerly waiting for the CEE 2020 in August.
"If the CEE gets postponed for a third time, it will be most disappointing. However, considering the pandemic situation, no one can assure anything on the exam dates till the situation improves. The way in which the exams are being postponed, we fear that the entire academic calendar for 2020-21 session may have to be altered," said Rajdeep Goswami, a CEE aspirant.

Meanwhile the Assam Science and Technology University (ASTU)- which organizes the state-level engineering entrance- is at crossroads.
ASTU vice-chancellor, Dhiraj Bora told TOI that a wait-and-watch policy is being adopted before making any further declaration on the exam date.
"We are waiting till the end of lockdown in Guwahati. Like the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has announced that the next academic session (in engineering colleges) will start from September 15, we are also expecting an important declaration from the University Grants Commission (UGC) soon. But, we are pushing for conducting CEE 2020 in August itself," said Bora.
Bora said that while he is not in favour of postponing the exam time and again, in the steering committee meeting held on Monday, discussion was held on possibilities of conducting the exam following the Covid-19 rules.
"Since the situation is bad in Guwahati now, a final decision on the exam date will be taken soon after withdrawal of lockdown in Guwahati. That will be the appropriate time to take a final call, if need arises," Bora added.
Between 11,000 to 13,000 students appear in CEE every year. Though several other entrance tests in the country are conducted through the online mode, the state level engineering entrance test in Assam is still conducted through offline mode, where the candidates have to physically appear in the pen-and-paper mode entrance for admission to the state's engineering colleges.
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About the Author
Kangkan Kalita

Kangkan Kalita is a reporter with The Times of India and covers issues on health, education, stories of human interest while keeping a close watch on political developments and student movements. Reporting on environment and forest related issues and concerns of the northeast interest him equally.

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