The Jamia Millia Islamia has chosen to exempt most of its undergraduate and postgraduate programmes from the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), except for 20 courses, due to insufficient time to revise university regulations, according to a senior official on Friday, March 3.
This year, admission to twenty courses, including BSc (Hons) Physics and BSc (Hons) Chemistry, will be facilitated through the CUET. This marks an increase of ten courses from the previous academic year. The university has communicated its decision to the University Grants Commission (UGC) and has also informed them that CUET-UG will be implemented in all courses from the academic year 2024-25, as modifying admission regulations requires ample time, stated a report by PTI.
Last year, the UGC introduced the CUET for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. However, the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) did not implement the test for all of its undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Recently, the UGC requested that the JMI introduce CUET UG for all courses from the academic session 2023-24. In response, the university conveyed that it would only admit students through CUET UG and PG for 20 courses, consisting of 15 undergraduate courses and 5 postgraduate courses, as reported by PTI.
The JMI offers admission into several programmes based on merit determined by an entrance test conducted by the university, and wherever applicable, followed by an interview and or other components.
"We have received the UGC letter. And we have replied to them that this year will not be adopting the CUET wholly but for 20 courses. As there is not much time left to make changes to the university rules. But for the next academic year, we will implement the CUET UG. All the admission to undergraduate courses in university would be taken through CUET. We have informed the UGC about it," JMI Registrar Nazim Husain Al-Jafri told PTI.
"Our Executive Council (highest decision-making body of the varsity) decided that it won't be possible to implement the CUET this year as admission to several courses takes place through interviews. In those courses in which interviews are not required, we will allow admission through the CUET," the registrar said.
As CUET PG is not compulsory, the university has no plans to fully implement it, even in the upcoming academic year. Last month, the UGC wrote to both Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia, reiterating that all central universities must adopt the Common University Entrance Test for undergraduate programme admissions.
The JMI has also released a prospectus for the academic year 2023-24. The undergraduate courses that will admit students through the CUET include BA (Hons) Turkish Language and Literature, BA (Hons) Sanskrit, BA (Hons) French and Francophone Studies, BA (Hons) Spanish and Latin American Studies, BA (Hons) History, BA (Hons) Hindi, BA (Hons) Urdu, BA (Hons) Korean Language, BA (Hons) Persian, BSc Biotechnology, BVoc (Solar Energy), BSc (Hons) Physics, BSc (Hons) Chemistry, BSc (Hons) Applied Mathematics and BA (Hons) Economics.
Similarly, the postgraduate courses that allow admissions through the CUET include MA (Persian), MA (Sanskrit), MA (Educational Planning and Administration), MSc (Disaster Management and Climate Sustainability) (Self-Finance), and PG Diploma in Disaster Management (Self-Finance), according to the PTI report.
