The Academic Council of the Jawaharlal Nehru University in its 159th meeting on Wednesday cleared the proposal to conduct the university entrance examination through the Common Universities Entrance Test (CUET) from the academic session 2022-23.
The university said the decision is in conformity with the one taken in the 157th meeting of the AC to adopt and admit students through CUET whenever the examination would be planned by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
Level playing field
In a statement, the university said, “During the deliberations in the Academic Council, a large number of members including the Deans of Schools, Centre Chairpersons and External Members of the Council emphasised that CUET would provide a level playing field to numerous eligible students from across the country reducing the burden of taking several entrance examinations.”
The JNU Students’ Union criticised the move saying that JNU offers programmes and courses that are unique to the university, and a ‘one size fits all’ approach of CUET will be detrimental in this regard. The Union added that it will not be sufficient to accommodate the diverse range of the programmes offered in different universities.
Move criticised
It said the CUET will lead to JNU losing autonomy over setting of question papers and declaration of results. it also said the CUET lacks transparency as it indicates pass/fail instead of displaying the student’s grade. “CUET with a centralised institutional set up, makes (any) redressal an elaborate procedure, further pushing aspirants belonging to the marginalised communities to deeper margins,” the JNUSU said.
The JNU Teachers’ Association said Vice-Chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar selectively orchestrated the discussion on the CUET by stating that the decision on the matter had already been taken in the 157th meeting of the Academic Council. “This, however, is not true. A perusal of the minutes of the 157th meeting clearly shows that this was not even listed on the agenda of that meeting. Members of the AC have reported that there was no discussion on CUET during the 157th AC meeting,” the JNUTA said in a statement.
Jayant K. Tripathi, Director of Admissions, JNU, said misinformation was being spread by a few faculty members about the CUET that was noted by the AC and was deplored.
