CBSE to hold NET November 19; online forms available from August

The University Grants Commission (UGC) had said the CBSE will continue to conduct the exam, even though the board had earlier expressed its inability to do so.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will conduct the National Eligibility Test (NET) on November 19, officials said ending the suspense whether the school board will continue to conduct the exam.

Traditionally, the exam is held twice a year — July and December — for the grant of junior research fellowship and eligibility for assistant professorship in universities and colleges. (Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times)

The University Grants Commission (UGC) said CBSE will hold the exam putting an end to speculations even though the board earlier expressed its inability to do so. The June exam did not take place this year.

“Details will be available from July 24 and the period for online applications will be from August 1 to 31,” a senior CBSE official said.

However, there is still no clarity whether the board will conduct the exam once or twice in a year.

Traditionally, the exam is held twice a year — July and December — for the grant of the junior research fellowship (JRF) and ascertain eligibility for the post of an assistant professorship in universities and colleges across the country. Qualification in NET is a must for recruitment of teachers at colleges and universities.

The board wrote to the Union human resource development ministry in September last year, complaining that asking it to conduct examinations that are outside its purview was creating an “extraneous burden” on it.

However, it agreed to conduct NET till the National Testing Service is formed, which will start conducting all competitive examinations.

Sources said the CBSE has suggested that the exam should be conducted just once because of the poor response to the test — 6.5 lakh students register for the exam on an average and approximately 1.5 lakh take it, with a passing percentage of only 3.9%.