AMU yet to decide on common entrance test
The education ministry has announced that it will conduct a Central Universities Entrance Test (CUET) for admission to all undergraduate and postgraduate courses from academic session 2022-23.
Days after announcing it will not participate in the common entrance test for admission to central universities that will be conducted from the coming academic session, the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on Saturday did an about turn and said that a “final decision” on its participation was still pending.
The education ministry has announced that it will conduct a Central Universities Entrance Test (CUET) for admission to all undergraduate and postgraduate courses from academic session 2022-23.
CUET, envisaged in the National Education Policy 2020, was scheduled to start in the 2021-22 academic session. The government put it on hold due to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The academic council of the AMU, in a special meeting held on December 4, 2021, decided to constitute a committee to decide on the matter, the university said in a statement on Saturday.
“Under the authorisation of the academic council, the Vice-Chancellor constituted a committee which was notified vide office memo (C) 925 dated 21.12.2021. The report of the committee is still awaited, which will be placed before the academic council to take a final decision in participation of AMU in CU-CET,” it said.
On Wednesday, University spokesperson Shafey Kidwai had told HT that the AMU had decided to not participate in the CUET and maintain the status quo on its admission policy as the case on its minority status is in the courts. The proposal regarding the exam was placed before the university’s academic council, he had said.
When contacted on Saturday, Kidwai said, “The committee report is still pending. It was an inadvertent omission from our part earlier.”
Under Article 30 of the Constitution, all minorities, whether based on religion or language, have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. A case regarding AMU’s minority status is being heard in the Supreme Court.
Several universities, including Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University, will participate in the CUET.
The computerised test will be conducted by the national testing agency in 13 languages. The test is likely to be held in June-July, and the ministry is expected to issue a notification soon.
