Parents wait outside a JEE Advanced centre in Sanpada, Navi Mumbai. Photo Credit: Purnangshu Paul

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The marathon run of JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) Advanced 2017 begun today at various test centres across the country. The magnitude of the examination, where over 2 lakh engineering aspirants are taking part for securing admission in the prestigious IITs across the country, was visible in one of the centres in Navi Mumbai.

PaGaLGuY spoke to the anxious parents waiting outside for their wards to finish the last hurdle on their way to getting into the IITs.

Although the exam was scheduled to begin at 9 am, for parents like Ishwar Gaikwad the journey from Kalyan begin at 6:30 in the morning. “We took an Ola from our house and reached the centre at around 7:15. By the time we reached, there was still some time left for the entrance of students at the centre to begin. After my son went inside, I went to my office near Vashi and came back when the paper 1 finished,” said Gaikwad.

The centre, with no arrangements for parents to wait, forced them to take refuge at the slightest of shade they could get beneath the trees. Some of the parents who came in their personal vehicles, locked themselves inside and switched on the AC to beat the heat.

Others like Anil Singh Rathore coming to the centre from Kalyan had no option but to wait outside in the heat. “The level of JEE Advanced is huge and it is difficult to arrange facilities for parents. But it would have been better for the parents if the college authority would have thought of a shaded sitting space and drinking water facilities,” said Rathore, who is hopeful of his son cracking the examination this year.

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Outside the centre, there were two AC vans present provided by IITians’ Pace coaching institute. But, it seemed that many of the parents had very little idea for whom it was kept there. “I believe it is for the meritorious students only, so that they don’t feel the heat,” said Gaikwad.

Along with the aspirants, the parents outside also seemed nervous and anxious as Paper 1 ended. A government official, Mohan Mazumdar from Panvel was satisfied when his son informed him about his good performance in the first paper. “He told me that the first paper has gone well. Now I hope he performs well in the second paper and let’s see if he can get one of the prestigious IIT seats,” said Mazumdar.

“The cut off went quite low this year and a lot of engineering colleges were shut down by AICTE as well. So my son has taken this opportunity in a do or die situation and I hope he will crack it this time,” said another parent Amit Wande, whose son is a repeater and appeared for MHTCET 2017 as well. On asking whether it was his son or himself, who had chosen engineering as an option, Wande pointed out “I am an engineer, so my son also wanted to be an engineer.”

Although there were no complaints about the arrangements of the examination inside the hall, Rathore informed that the process of biometrics entry started late at the centre. “While the scheduled timing to let students inside the institution was 7:45 am, it started somewhere around 8:10 am. By 8:45, there were still some 10-15 aspirants who could not finish their biometrics entry,” said Rathore.

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While reporting about this, the parents were still waiting outside for Paper II to get over. We wish all the luck to the aspirants for their future.

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Find out what aspirants had to say about Paper I and Paper II of JEE Advanced 2017.

Click here to read JEE Advanced 2017 Paper I analysis by IITians Pace. 

Click here to find out JEE Advanced 2017 Paper I Answer Keys.