New Delhi, Feb. 24 -- The Punjab government on February 21 said 305 students from state-run schools have cleared the first session of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main 2026, with the education department projecting a higher final count after the second session. The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts JEE (Main), released the Session 1 Paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech) results on February 16.

Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, Punjab education minister Harjot Singh Bains said the number of qualifiers from government schools has increased from 187 last year to 305 in the latest session-an increase he pegged at about 63%. He said five students from his constituency, Sri Anandpur Sahib, were among those who cleared the examin...