New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) wants more universities, including those run by the states and deemed-to-be institutions, to grant admissions on the basis of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET). This is important in order to streamline the admission process and save students from taking multiple entrance exams, the regulator has said.
A week ago, the UGC had announced that all central universities will have to admit students to undergraduate courses based on the CUET and not Class 12 marks, a rule that will come into force from the upcoming academic year (2022-23).
On Monday, UGC chairman M. Jagadesh Kumar held a virtual interaction with the heads of several deemed-to-be universities from across the country, and asked them to be a part of CUET. The universities expressed interest, ThePrint has learnt.
During the meeting, the chairman explained the details of the exam to the institution heads and stressed that it will in no way hinder the reservation process.
The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai, Jamia Hamdard University in New Delhi, Gandhigram Rural Institute in Dindigul, Dayalbagh Educational Institute in Agra, Gurukul Kangri in Haridwar, Gujarat Vidyapith in Ahmedabad, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women in Coimbatore, and Ramakrishna Vivekananda Educational & Research Institute in Kolkata, were part of the discussion.
Registrations for CUET will begin from April 2 onwards, and the exam will be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
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‘Equal opportunity to all students from different boards’
A letter was also sent to vice-chancellors of all universities and college principals Sunday, urging them to make use of CUET scores for admission, so that all institutions use a single platform instead of opting for multiple tests.
“To save students from appearing in multiple entrance examinations, conducted on different dates, sometimes coinciding with each other, and to also provide equal opportunity to all students from different boards, UGC invites and encourages all state universities, deemed-to-be universities, private universities and other Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) to adopt and use CUET score from 2022-23 onwards for admission of students in their UG programmes,” read the letter sent by UGC secretary Rajnish Jain.
Explaining how this will work, a senior official told ThePrint that the UGC wants universities “register themselves on the portal and prominently display on their website that students will get admission on the basis of the CUET score”.
“We want this done because currently there are multiple entrance exams being conducted by different universities. A single entrance exam will streamline the process,” he added.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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