The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), in its 157th Academic Council Meeting, held on March 22, 2021, had decided to conduct the admission process based on the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA) every year. The CUET or the Central Universities Common Entrance Test is conducted to admit students into various Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses offered by the 12 participating universities. Many other universities offer admissions based on the CUET scores of candidates. Now, JNU is all set to join this list. Usually, the admissions to JNU are provided on the basis of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Entrance Examination (JNUEE) in computer-based test (CBT) mode.
In its 159th Academic Council Meeting, the administration has further endorsed this decision. The notification was released via a press note and JNU Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar had also tweeted the same. Following the original announcement, the decision had faced a huge backlash and criticism from many stakeholders, including the students, faculty, and aspirants.
According to the JNU officials, admissions based on the CUET will provide a ‘level playing field’ to the numerous eligible candidates and will also reduce the burden of taking several other examinations.
Despite the clarifications by the JNU officials, many students and faculty have called the decision ‘autocratic’. Many claims that the faculty and students were not involved in the decision-making. It was even alleged that the faculty were not allowed to speak during the council meeting. On the one hand, the decision will reduce the stress from appearing in several entrance exams. On the other hand, this might impact the quality of the exam conducted by the NTA. Also, it is important to consider the opinions of those who will be directly affected by this decision.
The CUET is conducted by the NTA every year, in around 152 cities across the country. The exam is conducted in CBT mode and has a duration of 2 hours. The marking scheme and eligibility are different for the Undergraduate and Postgraduate course and depends on the programme the candidates opt for. Earlier this year, Delhi University too had announced that its admission process will be based on the CUET exam.
