At least 114,563 students did not appear for the JEE Mains Examination for the first three days, according to the data released by Union education ministry.

Out of the total 458,521, who had registered to appear for the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Mains for the first three days, only 343,958 went to give the exams, said the data release on Thursday.

The dropout rate, which is approximately 25%, brings to the fore the students’ fear of appearing for examination during the COVID19 pandemic and the demand for the change in the scheduled examination dates.

According to the Union education ministry data, 61,366 students appeared for the JEE Mains Examination on September 1 and the next day saw 1,41,372 students sitting for the exam.

A total of 141,220 students had appeared for the national level entrance exam on September 3.

While 54.67% of the aspirants sat in the examination on day one, 81% of them sat on day two and day three.

Releasing the attendance sheet of JEE Mains for the first three days on his Twitter handle, Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said it is ‘heart whelming’ to see students appearing for the exam despite Coronavirus pandemic.

“Here is the attendance sheet of the last 3 days for JEE Main. Heart whelming to see so many students participating in this Yagna to create AatmaNirbhar Bharat despite COVID-19 pandemic,” Nishank tweeted.

“I thank all Chief Ministers for their support to ensure that students’ careers are not affected,” the minister said.

JEE Mains Examination, the first large scale exam being conducted amid the pandemic, will continue till September 6.

Amid widespread protests demanding postponement of JEE Mains and NEET exams, the National Testing Agency (NTA) said the examinations would be held as per schedule in view of the academic interest of the students.

For JEE Mains Examination, NTA had increased the number of examination centres from 570 to 660.