The University Grants Commission is proposing that the major competitive exams for entrance into undergraduate courses in the country be merged into one single exam. What exams does this proposal include, and how will it impact the students? Here's a low-down.
What is the UGC's proposal?
In an interview with the Times of India, UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said that the Commission was mulling over combining the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET UG), the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) and the Common Universities Entrance Test (CUET) into one single entrance examination for admission into all these courses.
What was the reasoning behind this decision?
The UGC Chairman told TOI that the integration of JEE and NEET into a single exam will protect the interest of students as they will not have to write multiple entrance exams from the same knowledge base.
How many students write the JEE, CUET and NEET UG exams each year, and in what subjects?
While about 15 lakh students write the medical entrance exam NEET UG every year, about 9 lakh students appear for the JEE exam, which grants entry into Engineering colleges in India, including the IITs and NITs.
This year, the CUET was made mandatory for admissions into UG courses in central universities, and was adopted by many state and private universities as well for their admission. The exam was conducted in two phases for more than 14 lakh students. Each student can write the exam in up to ten subjects, and the exam is being conducted in 13 languages.
On the other hand, the NEET UG covers the subjects of Biology, Physics and Chemistry. For JEE, students take the exam in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry.
Who conducts these exams?
Presently, all these three exams are being conducted by the National Testing Agency, which has come under attack from various quarters for a whole host of issues being reported this year in the conduct of these exams. Technical difficulties have hit the CUET exam at multiple centres in both phases, and have also led to the cancellation of the exam in a few cases. Similarly, administrative and technical issues have affected the JEE and NEET UG as well.
How will this help the NTA?
According to the UGC Chairman, streamlining these three exams into just one common entrance test will reduce the logistical burden on the NTA. The Chairman told TOI that reducing the number of tests will make allotting testing centres more convenient for the NTA, and make the process of creating question papers easier as well.
How will it be implemented?
For now, the idea from the UGC is a mere proposal. A committee will be set up to examine the matter from the viewpoints of various stakeholders. If introduced, the UGC Chairman told TOI that it is likely to be conducted twice a year, and will be in the Multiple Choice Questions Computer Based Testing mode.
