A sense of uncertainty looms over the much-awaited opening and functioning of Odia University. The university, whose campus is situated at Bakula Bana in Satyabadi of Puri district, is originally slated to open in July this year.
This sense of ambivalence over the university’s opening is because the Higher Education Department is yet to list the university in its Student Academic Management System (SAMS) e-education portal for the academic year 2023-2024, even as admissions for the new academic session are to start in a few months.
Besides, there has been no notification for the Common PG Entrance Test (CPET) to admit students to the university in the new session, reports The New Indian Express.
What do timelines look like?
The Higher Education department held a meeting with the State Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena on May 31 this year, on making the university functional earlier than announced. Subsequently, the department notified that the university will be inaugurated in the first week of July earlier this month and planned to complete the admission of students before the inauguration.
As a result, the department decided to conduct the CPET in three subjects, namely, Odia Language and Literature, Linguistics and Natural Language Processing, and Regional, Tribal and Heritage Studies. The three courses have also been designed as Integrated MA-PhD programmes aligning with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, with an exit option at the master's level.
The entrance test and admission process were to be wrapped up by the last week of this month. However, the CEPT admission timeline has not been announced by the higher education department yet, though only four days are left before the month ends.
On the other hand, CPET for admission to other public universities and degree colleges are being conducted by the State Selection Board since June 23 and will continue till July 4. The academic session for first-year PG students usually begins every September.
When The New Indian Express reached out to Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, the Higher Education Minister of Odisha about this delay in conducting the entrance examination and operationalisation of the new university, there has been no response.
The foundation for Odia University had been laid in Satyabadi in October 2018 by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
