The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration in a circular on 12 January announced their decision to conduct entrance examinations through the Common Entrance University Test (CUET). The decision came amidst opposition from the students and teachers of the university.
The notice read, “Jawaharlal Nehru University in its 159th Academic Council meeting held on 12 January 2022 overwhelmingly endorsed its earlier decision to hold the entrance examination through the Common Universities Entrance Test (CUET) for admission into various academic programmes for 2022-2023.”
The notice stated that the decision was in conformity with the previous decision to adopt and admit students through the CUET whenever the examination would be planned by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The notice added that during the deliberations, Deans of Schools, Centre Chairpersons, and External Members of the council, threw light on the need for the CUET. It added, “The misinformation spread by a few faculty members about CUET was noted by the Academic Council and was deplored.”
Teachers' and Students' Unions Take Objection
The JNU Teachers Association said in a statement that the decision had not been taken in the 157th meeting, and was only part of the several recommendations of the advisory committee on admissions.
The JNUTA said, "Honourable members raised issues about the unique nature of the University and their respective centres and requested that this matter be first discussed at the Centre/School level. But unfortunately, the Caretaker VC did not allow their concerns any space and muted the speakers abruptly. Many faculty members were not even allowed to speak despite their raised hands."
After a meeting on 26 November, the University Grants Commission (UGC) had asked central universities to take ‘appropriate measures’ to conduct the Central Universities Common Entrance Test (CUCET).
As of now, the JNU holds its own entrance test conducted by the NTA. A letter written by the JNU Students' Union leaders to the chairperson of the Academic Council prior to the meeting on Wednesday emphasised their concerns with regards to the common entrance test.
It read, “Handing over of the absolute authority to conduct entrance examination(s) to NTA via CUET, as was seen in the recent past (in the case of NTA-JNUEE), raises serious concerns regarding transparency in the entire process. The recurring set of unfair practices the student community time and again raised, regarding discrepancies in question papers and answer keys, a non-economical challenging fee, undue delay concerning the declaration of results, we fear, shall only be intensified with CUET now in the picture.”
The letter added that a centralised institutional set-up, makes redressal more difficult, thereby pushing aspirants belonging to the marginalised communities further into the margins. It stated that a one-size-fits-all approach would be detrimental as there are courses and programmes that are unique to the university.
It further read, “The usage of NET score for PhD admissions, wherever feasible as proposed, acts as an additional barrier as it sets arbitrary criteria and pushes a section of the student community further away as they are devoid of an opportunity to participate in the admission process.”
They asked the academic council to reject the proposed conduct of CUET and asked for the meeting to be reconvened along with student representatives. The JNUTA had previously expressed its displeasure with the move as well.
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