Common entrance test must for all central universities: UGC
CUET, which is envisaged in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, will be conducted in the first week of July, both for undergraduate and postgraduate courses by the National Test Agency (NTA).
Central universities will have to conduct admissions to all undergraduate courses solely on the basis of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) from the upcoming academic year ( 2022-23), the University Grants Commission (UGC) announced on Monday.
No weightage will be given to the Class 12 scores for undergraduate admissions to any central university from this year.
CUET, which is envisaged in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, will be conducted in the first week of July, both for undergraduate and postgraduate courses by the National Test Agency (NTA).
UGC Chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said that it will be mandatory for all 45 central universities to base admission to their undergraduate courses on CUET. However, for postgraduate admissions, the universities will have flexibility.
“Admissions to all undergraduate programmes in all the centrally funded universities and their affiliated colleges will be done solely on the basis of the CUET scores from the 2022-23 session. For postgraduate programmes, many universities also are willing to use the CUET scores. We hope that all central universities will ultimately use CUET for their postgraduate admissions also,” he said during a virtual interaction with the media.
Some universities, including the Delhi University, have already announced that their undergraduate admission will be on basis of CUET scores.
Other higher education institutions, including private, state or deemed universities, can use CUET scores for their undergraduate and postgraduate admissions.
Universities will also be allowed to define their individual minimum eligibility criteria in terms of class 12 marks for undergraduate admissions. The Universities will also be allowed to set their own criteria for students who wish to switch streams after class 12.
CUET, a computerized exam, will be conducted in 13 languages: English, Hindi, Gujarati, Assamese, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
Kumar emphasized that the CUET will not affect the admission policies of the central universities.
“For instance, if any university reserves a certain percentage for local students or internal students, it will continue to do that. The only difference is that these students will also have to come through CUET like students that will be admitted in general seats. The reservation policies and ordinances of the universities will remain unchanged.”
Among such universities are the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), which reserves 50% seats for their internal candidates and Jamia Millia Islamia where 50% of seats are reserved for Muslim students. Officials at both Jamia and AMU said that the implementation of CUET at their respective universities is under consideration.
“We are yet to receive the guidelines stating that CUET is mandatory for all central universities from UGC or the National Testing Agency. Once we receive the instructions, we will discuss with our statutory bodies and make a decision accordingly,” said AMU spokesperson Shafey Kidwai.
UGC has exempted international students from CUET. “International students in Indian students will continue to be admitted as per the existing practice the universities have on the supernumerary basis,” Kumar said.
For skill-based courses having major practical components, including music, painting, sculpture and theatre, the universities will be allowed to conduct practical exams or interviews along with CUET.
There will be no centralized counselling for undergraduate admissions and the universities will be allowed to conduct their own counselling if needed.
Explaining the structure of the test, Kumar said that the three-and-half hour multiple-choice exam will be conducted in two phases, and the paper will be based on the class 12 NCERT syllabus.
In the first phase, the candidates will appear in one language test, for which 13 language options will be given to them, two subject-specific tests out of 27 options, and a general test. In the second phase, the candidates can appear in four more domain subjects, if they want, along with a language subject.
Faculty members at central universities expressed mixed reactions over the announcements. “Admissions to UG courses through entrance will mean complete erosion of XI and XII classes. A total disregard to the continuous performance of students in their most important year of study is an extremely bad idea. This decision will lead to more business for coaching centres and testing agencies. The proposed system is also less flexible than the current system at DU,” said Abha Dev Habib, an associate professor at Delhi University’s Miranda House College.
Shashikant Ray, an assistant professor at Mahatma Gandhi Central University in Motihari (Bihar), said, “The move will centralize the entire admission process and help in curbing any instance of corruption in university admissions. It will also be good for students from marginalized sections since they won’t have to fill multiple forms and travel to multiple places to appear in different exams.”
Educationist Meeta Sengupta said, "While this move will be very unpopular with many, the variation in the standards of various state boards made it almost impossible to judge the validity and meaningfulness of declared marks. Since state boards often moderated to improve their outcomes, the alleged competitive inflation of grades made national calibration difficult. This centralised examination offers the opportunity of a standard statistical measure of output. This is going to create much needed discussion on standards and ranges of outcomes."
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