New Delhi, Jan 10 : Adopting the principle of 'Safety first, exams later' during the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to conduct the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) examination on January 31, and allot candidates examination centres located near their houses. The candidates across the country appearing for these exams would be issued admit cards next week. The CTET examination was to be held in July 2020 but owing to coronavirus, it was continuously delayed. For the convenience of the candidates, new CTET examination centres have been created in 23 more cities. According to the CBSE, all the candidates appearing in the examination would be provided with the admit cards as well as information of the examination centres by next week. Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said that the prestigious CTET exam conducted by the CBSE would now be held on January 31 keeping in mind the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Candidates have also been given an opportunity to choose the location of their examination centre, he said. The CTET examination was earlier scheduled to be held in 112 cities across the country, but now under the new arrangements made by the Union Education Ministry, the examination would be conducted in 135 cities. The Ministry said: "'Safety first, then education'... there will be no compromise with the safety of the students. The safety of the students will be strictly ensured before taking any step. The student can only be present in the class or can appear for exams only in a safe environment. " Before this due to coronavirus, Joint Entrance Examination (Mains) and the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) had to be postponed thrice in 2020. However, both these exams were finally conducted in late 2020 despite delays. This year, the JEE Advanced 2021 exam would be conducted on July 3 in computer-based test mode. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, this year the eligibility criteria for scoring 75 per cent marks in class 12 has been removed for admission to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). On the other hand, JEE Main examinations would be held in February, March, April and May this year. As per the schedule, the first session of the JEE Main Examination would be conducted between February 23 and 26. /IANS