CBSE and JEE Main overlap, student concerns prompt CBSE-NTA meeting on Wednesday
Times of India | 26 March 2025
Kolkata: With Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class XII and JEE Main 2025 Session 2 overlapping on same days in April first week, an online meeting will be held on Wednesday with all the city CBSE exam coordinators and National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts JEE (Main) to find a solution. The overlapping dates has led to concerns among students who have both examinations on the same date.
The JEE Main 2025 Session 2 is scheduled to be held from April 2 to April 9. There are overlapping exam dates with CBSE, such as languages on April 2, home science on April 3, and psychology on April 4. This has triggered concern among students who are appearing for JEE Main on the same dates.
There are 28 language papers, including Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, and Telugu, slated for April 2, while home science is scheduled for April 3 and psychology is scheduled for April 4. These three dates overlap with the JEE Main Session 2 exams schedule.
CBSE three-hour exams are slated from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm, while JEE Main exams will be held in two shifts—the morning shift will be held from 9 am to 12 pm, and the afternoon shift will be held from 3 pm to 6 pm.
One CBSE class XII candidate who has a Bengali exam on April 2 said, "If I appear for the Bengali exam, then I have to sacrifice JEE Main. This is really a big dilemma for me because Session 2 is equally important for me but I can't skip Bengali exam."
Several city school principals who wrote letters to the CBSE as well as the national testing agency to make a balance so that students will not face any trouble. Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir Principal Arun Dasgupta said, "There are some students who came to us with the application addressing the issue that we forwarded to the CBSE and NTA too. We are waiting to get a reply from them."
A school principal who doesn't want to be named said, "Some students in our school who have Bengali appealed to reschedule the date that we forwarded to the NTA. We have not yet received anything from the NTA. However, it's really challenging for them to attend both exams on the same date because exam timings are almost the same. So, they have to skip at least one for another."
Reacting to a question from media, Sukanta Majumder, Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, said, "Students experiencing difficulties should send their concerns via email to the NTA, which will be reviewed for further consideration."