Over 5,000 Delhi government school students were provided with free preparatory classes for the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Tuesday, July 12. "This year, for the first time, the CUET is being conducted for admissions in central universities of India. Many of the Delhi government school students wanted to prepare for the entrance, but were not in a situation to afford high coaching fees," Sisodia said during an interaction with CUET aspirants at Kautilya Sarvodaya Vidyalaya at Chirag Enclave, as stated in a report by PTI.
"For them, the initiative ensured that all the aspiring students are provided sufficient support at the school level itself, so that they do not consider giving up dreams because of financial reasons," he added. The students were guided in over 13 subjects in classes that were spread over 20 days. Sisodia said they were also given exposure to 'Computer Based Test' through online mock test series. Individual mock tests were designed for each stream- arts, science and commerce, he said.
Speaking about how it benefitted students, he said, "This helped students develop skills of time-management and stress management during exams. Regular practice has boosted their confidence and reduced the fear of exams among students." Specialised centres for preparation of commerce and science subjects were created by forming groups of schools. For arts subjects as well, preparation guidance was provided at the school level. "A total number of 106 centres were created for CUET classes in the south-east district," Sisodia said.
The debut edition of CUET UG will be conducted from July 15 to August 10, the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced last week. Over 14 lakh candidates have registered for the first edition of CUET. The NTA released the admit cards for CUET UG on Monday, July 11.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) had, in March, announced that CUET scores, and not Class XII marks, would be mandatory for admission to 45 central universities and that the central universities can fix their minimum eligibility criteria. A total of 44 central universities, 12 state universities, 11 deemed universities and 19 private universities have applied for participating in the first edition of CUET for UG admissions in the 2022-23 academic session.
