DU entrance exams notified, to be held from September 6 to 11

Over 220,000 aspirants who are to appear for Delhi University Entrance Tests (DUET) to get admitted to DU’s various undergraduate, postgraduate, and MPhil/PhD courses will do so between September 6 and 11, as per the examination schedule released by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Friday.

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“Keeping in view the academic interest of a large number of students, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) has agreed to the proposal of MHRD (now MoE) for conducting various entrance examinations in the month of September 2020,” NTA said in the public notice.

The central government body has been conducting entrance tests for DU for since 2019. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court had rejected a plea seeking to postpone the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), which are also slated to be conducted by NTA in September.

DU conducts entrance tests for all postgraduate courses and nine undergraduate courses, including BA (Honours) Humanities and Social Sciences, BA (Honours) Multimedia and Mass Communication, and BTech IT & Mathematical Innovations.

Varsity officials said around 140,000 students had applied for the entrance tests to various postgraduate courses while approximately 70,000 had applied for the nine entrance-based undergraduate courses. Around 14,000 students have applied for MPhil and PhD programmes.

According to the bulletin on NTA’s website, entrance tests will be conducted across 24 cities, including Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Jaipur, Patna, Chennai and Mumbai. “The exams will be conducted online but the students will have to go to the test centres. It will be similar to how JEE exams are conducted. In a day or two, students will receive their admit cards as well,” a senior DU official, requesting anonymity, said.

“Hand-held metal detectors will be used for frisking candidates while maintaining a distance. These will be sanitised at regular intervals. Admit cards will have specific barcodes which will be scanned and rooms will be allotted to students accordingly,” Vineet Joshi, director general, NTA, said.

“We have prepared a standard operating protocol that will be followed to ensure safety,” Joshi said. He also added that the number of exam centres are currently being finalised and each centre will have gloves and masks for all staff and students.

The exams will be conducted in three “two-hour” slots on all six days to reduce crowding. Dean (admissions) Shobha Bagai said, “According to the NTA, there will be around 50-60% reduction in the number of students per centre to ensure social distancing. This will lead to an increase in the number of centres across cities. Students will have to wear masks and gloves and follow all protocols. Isolation rooms have been prepared for those feeling unwell.”

JP Dubey, honorary director of Delhi School of Journalism, said, “Students are willing to take the tests as there is no alternative available. When Parliament and Assemblies are running while maintaining protocols, exams too can be conducted. Parents and students are expressing concerns over exam dates clashing with other papers.”

Students have expressed concerns over social media about two exams – the common law entrance test (CLAT) and IIM-Indore’s Integrated Programme in Management Aptitute Test (IPMAT) – that are scheduled for September 7, clashing with an undergraduate entrance test for DU.

Harshit Singh, 18, a resident of Kanpur, who applied for a undergraduate management course, said, “My nearest centre is in Varanasi for which I have to go by train or road. If I go by train, there is a severe health risk. By road, the journey would be too expensive. My family is not keen on me appearing for the tests by risking my health.”

Taddo Tayeng, a resident of Roing in Arunachal Pradesh, who applied for a postgraduate course, said,“ It is unlikely that I will be able to appear for the paper since my nearest centre is in a different state. If I travel to that state, I will have to quarantine myself there for 14 days and then again when I return to my state.”