JEE Main Result: "Equally Distributed" - NTA Says After Many Allege Discrepancy In Shift Allocation
Following the release of JEE Main results on February 13, many have raised concerns regarding the distribution of candidates across exam dates. Many online educators, aspirants, and coaching centers have alleged that a majority of candidates were concentrated on January 27 and 29, potentially disadvantaging those who took the exam on other dates.
The first session of JEE Main examination, the national level entrance examination for admissions to technological institutions and also the screening test for JEE Advanced, was held on January 27, 29, 30, 31 and February 1 in 10 shifts, ie two shifts a day.
These accusations primarily stemmed from claims like a YouTuber”s video, garnering significant views and likes, stating that nearly 24% of students were assigned to the first shift on January 27. However, the National Testing Agency (NTA), responsible for conducting the exam, maintains that the distribution was fair and transparent.
An analysis of NTA data reveals that each exam shift indeed comprised between 9.6% and 10.3% of the total registered candidates, with a similar pattern in gender distribution. The final shift held on February 2nd also adhered to this distribution with 9.6% of candidates.
While some individual shifts might appear to have slightly higher numbers, the overall data suggests no significant deviation from the intended distribution. For instance, the claimed 2.9 lakh students on January 27th do not align with the official figures of 2,47,459 tested on Day 1 (across two shifts).
According to the data, on day 1, in two shifts, a total of 2,47,459 students were tested while on day 2, total 2,47,171 students were given chance to attend exam. In rest of the 6 shifts in three days more than 1.2 lakh students were tested in five and one shift, the final shift on February 1, saw 1.65 lakh students.
Responding to the controversy, the NTA issued a statement clarifying that the exam dates and shifts were randomly assigned through a computerized process during normalization. They emphasized that each shift was balanced in terms of candidate count, gender, and category.
“The result of the JEE (Main) – 2024 Session 1 was declared on 12 Feb 2024 in which the date/shift of the examination was randomly allotted by the computer as per the normalization process. It was ensured that each shift was equally distributed in terms of candidate count, gender, and category,” the NTA said in the statement.
