Roll out common entrance exam from 2022-23: UGC to Central universities

In July, soon after the second wave of Covid-19 infections, the UGC had announced that it was putting off its plan to implement CUET for a year.

The latest push came on November 26, when UGC joint secretary Jitendra K Tripathi wrote to the vice-chancellors of all 45 Central universities conveying that after detailed deliberations, it “was resolved that the common entrance for UG and PG may be conducted from the academic session 2022-23”. For admissions to PhD, NET score will be used “wherever feasible”, states the letter.

State universities, private universities and Deemed-to-be universities may also adopt the common entrance test for admissions, the UGC added. “These tests would be conducted in a minimum of 13 languages in which the NTA is already conducting JEE and NEET examinations,” the commission informed the universities.

The UGC has, however, not announced the modalities of the proposed test, which, sources said, is likely to evaluate students based on two segments — an aptitude test and a subject-specific paper.

According to the UGC, the CUET will cover students looking for admissions in the sciences, humanities, languages, arts, as well as vocational subjects in higher education institutions.

While the concept of a common entrance test finds mention in the NEP, it is not entirely new. The Central Universities Common Entrance Test (CUCET) was launched in 2010 when seven newly established Central universities subscribed to it. In 2012, the government tried to extend this to all Central universities under the Education Ministry, but the proposal didn’t take off with some established universities expressing concerns over the impact it would have on the quality of students admitted. Over the years, more newly set-up Central universities adopted the common entrance, but the older ones stayed away. In 2021, only 12 Central universities, including Assam University in Silchar, Central University of Gujarat, Central University of Punjab, Central University of Tamil Nadu and Central University of Jharkhand, among others, subscribed to the CUCET.

The UGC’s circular to vice-chancellors now refers to the proposed entrance test as CUET, not CUCET.

In December 2020, the UGC had set up a committee headed by the Vice-Chancellor of Central University of Punjab, R P Tiwari, to chalk out a plan to implement CUET from 2021-22. In its report, the committee had recommended that a minimum of 50 per cent of a candidate’s CUET score should be factored in during admissions in undergraduate courses.

“For admissions in universities, the existing policies regarding quotas, reservations, subject combinations, preferences etc shall continue,” the committee had said.

Central universities, including Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and DU, said they would adopt the CUET as per the directions of the government.

“Let the UGC work out the modalities of how this will be implemented and we will follow it. But there is no point going for a 50-50 formula because the controversy around Board marks will still continue even if its weightage is reduced. There will still be some Boards scoring better than others which will create discrepancies… DU is a very diverse university so we will have to keep that in mind when we talk of our admission policy,” said DU registrar Vikas Gupta.

“Let us wait and see what are the modalities of the entrance test and we will adapt accordingly. As far we can tell, it will not be very different from the JNU Entrance Examination (JNUEE) being conducted by the NTA,” said a JNU official.

KP Singh, registrar of the Central University of Bathinda, one of the 12 Central universities that have been implementing a common entrance exam, said, “Earlier we were conducting it on OMR sheets but this year it was computerised. It is too early to comment on next year’s exam pattern.”

Satya Prakash Upadhyaya, Registrar, Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, another of the 12 universities that have been conducting admissions through a common entrance test, said, “The common entrance test is not new for the central universities that have been a part of the CU-CET over the last few years. We have been conducting it since 2017.”

However, the proposed common entrance exam has its share of critics. Disha Nawani, professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Mumbai), said it will be a continuation of the existing system where the focus is not on learning but assessment. “Any kind of arrangement which seeks to impose uniformity becomes discriminatory. The proposed system will not be more just and fair,” she said.

Abha Dev Habib, Associate Professor (Physics) at DU’s Miranda House college, said increasing the number of filters will not help overcome the challenges posed by the vast differences in marks obtained by students from different state boards and those from the CBSE. “Having a filter of common entrance will encourage the coaching industry and put additional burden on parents and students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds,” said Habib, a former secretary of the Democratic Teachers’ Front in DU.

Ayesha Kidwai, professor at JNU’s Centre for Linguistics, said that going by the situation of universities that have implemented CUCET makes it clear that this method is set for failure. “They cannot treat universities like these are some organs of the state. To implement any such proposal, the UGC needs to prepare regulations which need the approval of the academic councils of the universities, which have their own acts,” Kidwai said.

According to NEP 2020, the NTA will work to offer a high-quality common aptitude test, as well as specialised common subject exams in the sciences, humanities, languages, arts, and vocational subjects, at least twice every year.

— With inputs from Aranya Shankar, New Delhi; Divya Goyal, Ludhiana; Ritu Sharma, Ahmedabad