Patna University mulls cancelling entrance exam for UG courses, aspirants wary

Last year, more than 42,000 candidates appeared in the combined entranced examination conducted by the PU for various undergraduate courses.

Patna University (PU) is considering cancelling entrance exams for the new session and admitting students in traditional and vocational undergraduate (UG) courses on the basis of their intermediate scores instead, while eliminating the viva voice to shorten the admission process. The proposal was mooted keeping the Covid situation in mind during a recent academic council meeting of the university, chaired by vice-chancellor Girish Kumar Chaudhary.

Patna University’s proposal has been opposed by several aspirants, fearing those with poor results in intermediate examinations will be disadvantaged. (Photo Santosh Kumar/Hindustan Times)

“The proposed provisions are exceptions to the usual admission procedure, due to [the] pandemic, which have been suggested only for the current year. The academic council’s resolutions have to be endorsed by the syndicate after which it would be sent to the Raj Bhawan for obtaining the governor’s approval,” Chaudhary said explaining the process for adoption of the proposal.

Another varsity official said further movement will take place after the syndicate meeting on Wednesday. “We cannot implement any change in the admission process without [the] assent of the Raj Bhawan,” said Anil Kumar, media-incharge.

Last year, more than 42,000 candidates appeared in the combined entranced examination conducted by the PU for various undergraduate courses.

Officials said there will be no change in the admission process for postgraduate (PG) courses, done on the basis of marks obtained in previous degree examinations.

The academic council has also resolved to change the nomenclature of six courses in the larger interest of the students and also commence National Cadet Corps (NCC) as a general elective credit course.

Meanwhile, several aspirants have opposed the proposal to cancel the entrance exam fearing those with poor results in intermediate examinations will be disadvantaged.

Amit Raj, a class 12 student, said, “PU should conduct entrance exams to provide fair opportunity to all aspirants. If conducting an offline exam is difficult due to Covid restrictions, then they should hold online exams. Marks of CBSE students are likely to dip since [the board] exams [for class 12 students] have been cancelled, creating a domino effect on their college admissions.”