News Analysis India

Tag: CUET

  • Yearender: A year of academic overhaul, major initiatives on the anvil for 2023

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The maiden Common Universities Entrance Test (CUET), touted as a single-window solution to cumbersome college admissions, had a bumpy start in 2022, but the year belonged to the new National Education Policy overhauling the country’s academic structure.

    Major promotion of mother tongue, including teaching engineering and medicine, and soon legal education, in local languages, immense flexibility to students by providing them multiple entry and exit in courses and easing PhD rules are sweeping measures that will change the face of education in the coming years.

    The year also saw India’s premier educational establishments – Indian Institutes of Technologies (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Managements (IIMs) – bettering their international rankings, paving the way for strengthening their global presence by opening up offshore campuses.

    It will be two-way traffic as foreign universities open their campuses in India, making global standards in higher education affordable at home.

    The coming year will focus on one of the major initiatives of the education ministry, the National Credit Framework (NCrF), for which Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched a public consultation on October 19.

    The first-of-its-kind framework in India, NCrF, to be launched in 2023, aims to integrate academic education and skilling. It is a unified credit accumulation and transfer framework, which applies to school, higher and vocational education providing flexibility to students to pick their learning trajectories, as it allows for mid-way course correction or modifications according to their talents and interests.

    On the anvil is also the Higher Education Commission of India, for which a committee was set up to merge the University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE). Though the proposal first came in 2018, it is one of the significant transformations suggested under NEP 2020.

    According to University Grants Commission Chairperson Prof M. Jagadesh Kumar, in 2022, the Commission introduced many initiatives and encouraged higher educational institutions (HEIs) to implement them effectively.

    One such achievement was when several educational institutions registered for the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), which paved the way for uploading students’ credentials on the ABC Portal.

    ABC is a virtual/digital storehouse that contains information on the credits earned by individual students throughout their learning journey. It will enable students to open their accounts and give multiple options for entering and leaving colleges or universities.

    “With the enabling provision of allowing students to pursue two academic programmes simultaneously, the UGC has created multiple formal and informal learning pathways. UGC’s Professor of Practice will pave the way to increase institution-industry collaborations,” Prof. Kumar told TNIE.

    The revised Ph.D rules that will facilitate the direct entry of four-year UG students into Ph.D courses, doing away with the mandatory condition of publications and permitting research and teaching assistantships, is the other highlight.

    The year also saw the announcement of twinning, joint or dual degrees with academic collaborations between Indian and foreign higher educational institutes.

    However, one of the significant challenges this year was filling faculty vacancies – a whopping over 11,000 positions – in 45 Central Universities (6,180), IITs (4,502), and IIMs (493); but also in Kendriya Vidyalayas (14,000 teaching and non-teaching posts) and Navodaya Vidyalaya (4,227). The ministry said the process to fill up these positions has begun in a “mission mode.”

    Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) Commissioner Vinayak Garg told TNIE all vacancies of teaching and non-teaching staff are being filled in mission mode. Of the total of 4227 notified vacancies, 757 have been filled. “All the vaccines will be filled by April 2023,” he said.

    So what more is in store for next year?

    A better coordinated and glitch-free CUET, which the UGC chairman has stressed, was neither to make board exams irrelevant nor give a push to coaching culture so that both students and their parents don’t agonise in terms of travelling long distances, change of examination centres at the last minute and even technical glitches while taking the exam.

    A significant reform on the card is the National Higher Education Qualification Framework, which will be instrumental in the development, classification, and recognition of qualifications to ease the integration of vocational education into higher education.

    Another major initiative will be the National Digital University, which is likely to be established on the hub and spoke model, and would bring together various universities with no upper cap on the number of seats so that Class 12 pass students can access higher education.

    The Four-Year Under-Graduate Programme (FYUP) to be adopted in all higher education institutions from 2023-24 academic session is yet another step that aims to develop student’s capabilities across a range of disciplines, including sciences, social sciences, arts, humanities, languages, as well as professional, technical, and vocational subjects.

    NEW DELHI: The maiden Common Universities Entrance Test (CUET), touted as a single-window solution to cumbersome college admissions, had a bumpy start in 2022, but the year belonged to the new National Education Policy overhauling the country’s academic structure.

    Major promotion of mother tongue, including teaching engineering and medicine, and soon legal education, in local languages, immense flexibility to students by providing them multiple entry and exit in courses and easing PhD rules are sweeping measures that will change the face of education in the coming years.

    The year also saw India’s premier educational establishments – Indian Institutes of Technologies (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Managements (IIMs) – bettering their international rankings, paving the way for strengthening their global presence by opening up offshore campuses.

    It will be two-way traffic as foreign universities open their campuses in India, making global standards in higher education affordable at home.

    The coming year will focus on one of the major initiatives of the education ministry, the National Credit Framework (NCrF), for which Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched a public consultation on October 19.

    The first-of-its-kind framework in India, NCrF, to be launched in 2023, aims to integrate academic education and skilling. It is a unified credit accumulation and transfer framework, which applies to school, higher and vocational education providing flexibility to students to pick their learning trajectories, as it allows for mid-way course correction or modifications according to their talents and interests.

    On the anvil is also the Higher Education Commission of India, for which a committee was set up to merge the University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE). Though the proposal first came in 2018, it is one of the significant transformations suggested under NEP 2020.

    According to University Grants Commission Chairperson Prof M. Jagadesh Kumar, in 2022, the Commission introduced many initiatives and encouraged higher educational institutions (HEIs) to implement them effectively.

    One such achievement was when several educational institutions registered for the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), which paved the way for uploading students’ credentials on the ABC Portal.

    ABC is a virtual/digital storehouse that contains information on the credits earned by individual students throughout their learning journey. It will enable students to open their accounts and give multiple options for entering and leaving colleges or universities.

    “With the enabling provision of allowing students to pursue two academic programmes simultaneously, the UGC has created multiple formal and informal learning pathways. UGC’s Professor of Practice will pave the way to increase institution-industry collaborations,” Prof. Kumar told TNIE.

    The revised Ph.D rules that will facilitate the direct entry of four-year UG students into Ph.D courses, doing away with the mandatory condition of publications and permitting research and teaching assistantships, is the other highlight.

    The year also saw the announcement of twinning, joint or dual degrees with academic collaborations between Indian and foreign higher educational institutes.

    However, one of the significant challenges this year was filling faculty vacancies – a whopping over 11,000 positions – in 45 Central Universities (6,180), IITs (4,502), and IIMs (493); but also in Kendriya Vidyalayas (14,000 teaching and non-teaching posts) and Navodaya Vidyalaya (4,227). The ministry said the process to fill up these positions has begun in a “mission mode.”

    Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) Commissioner Vinayak Garg told TNIE all vacancies of teaching and non-teaching staff are being filled in mission mode. Of the total of 4227 notified vacancies, 757 have been filled. “All the vaccines will be filled by April 2023,” he said.

    So what more is in store for next year?

    A better coordinated and glitch-free CUET, which the UGC chairman has stressed, was neither to make board exams irrelevant nor give a push to coaching culture so that both students and their parents don’t agonise in terms of travelling long distances, change of examination centres at the last minute and even technical glitches while taking the exam.

    A significant reform on the card is the National Higher Education Qualification Framework, which will be instrumental in the development, classification, and recognition of qualifications to ease the integration of vocational education into higher education.

    Another major initiative will be the National Digital University, which is likely to be established on the hub and spoke model, and would bring together various universities with no upper cap on the number of seats so that Class 12 pass students can access higher education.

    The Four-Year Under-Graduate Programme (FYUP) to be adopted in all higher education institutions from 2023-24 academic session is yet another step that aims to develop student’s capabilities across a range of disciplines, including sciences, social sciences, arts, humanities, languages, as well as professional, technical, and vocational subjects.

  • After CUET, UGC-NET students complain about far off centres; many missed exams

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Just like CUET, many students taking the UGC-NET exams have complained that they had to travel to far-off places for their examination centres, some even 800 km away from their homes. 

    Social media has been bombarded with complaints from aspirants, who requested the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the exam, to look into the matter urgently.

    Speaking to The New Indian Express, director-general Vineet Joshi said that over 1,000 grievances of students, who wrote to them about centre change, were addressed. “Today was the last day of the examination. Those who missed taking it will have to take it next time. We tried to accommodate as many students as possible who wrote to us on our authorised email id,” Joshi said.

    Over 1 lakh students took the University Grants Commission(UGC)-National Eligibility Test exam on Friday, the last day of the final and fourth phase examinations, which are conducted to determine the eligibility for the post of assistant professor and Junior Research Fellowship award in Indian universities and colleges. NTA conducts the exam on behalf of the UGC.

    As many students were not able to take the exam, they flooded social media with complaints about their examination centres located in far-flung areas, with many raising the issue that aspirants of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) also faced a similar situation. Many CUET aspirants had to miss the crucial exam for admission to undergraduate courses in universities and colleges due to examination centres being located in far-flung areas and, in some cases, different cities and states.

    A UGC-NET student said that her friend had an exam on October 13, and in the application form, candidates were asked to list four preferred exam centres. 

    “But the allotted exam centre was entirely different from the one on their preference list. Because of that, she wasn’t able to write the exam yesterday. Like her, there are many students,” said the student.

    Another aspirant said that her examination centre was Madurai, despite mentioning four options near her house as she was from Kanyakumari.  “Since Madurai is far from my native place and due to the shortage of time, it’s tough for me to attend the NET exam,” the student said.

    Priya Sahani tweeted that NTA has not allowed the examination centre according to the choices of candidates. “The centre is allotted as far as 300-800 km from their hometowns, and the admit card was only released two days before the exam. Due to this, students were unable to give the exams.”

    Another student said he missed taking the UGC-NET exam for the same reason.

    Joshi said he was awake till 2 am on October 13 trying to sort out various grievances of students. “I was up till 2 am, and I addressed a grievance of a student from Arunachal Pradesh. We tried to help out as many students as possible. But it is difficult for us to address the problems of those who post it on social media. We cannot keep track of social media. Students should write to us.”

    There was controversy about the History exam paper of October 10 as it was alleged that it was leaked. Many students stormed the UGC office on Wednesday after hearing the news.

    The NTA “vehemently” denied allegations of leakage of the History exam and alerted UGC-NET students against such fake tweets and YouTube videos making such claims on social media platforms.

    In a public notice issued the same day, the NTA said it was fake that the history exam paper of the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted on October 10 was leaked.

    INFO IN BRIEF: 

    The NTA conducted the phase 4 exams on October 8,10,11,12,13, and 14 for the December 2021 and June 2022 merged cycles. 

    The phase 1 exam was held on July 9, 11 and 12

    Phase 2 was conducted from Sep 20 to 23

    Phase 3 was conducted on Sep 29, 30 and Oct 1

    Exams were conducted in 500 cities

    NEW DELHI: Just like CUET, many students taking the UGC-NET exams have complained that they had to travel to far-off places for their examination centres, some even 800 km away from their homes. 

    Social media has been bombarded with complaints from aspirants, who requested the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the exam, to look into the matter urgently.

    Speaking to The New Indian Express, director-general Vineet Joshi said that over 1,000 grievances of students, who wrote to them about centre change, were addressed. “Today was the last day of the examination. Those who missed taking it will have to take it next time. We tried to accommodate as many students as possible who wrote to us on our authorised email id,” Joshi said.

    Over 1 lakh students took the University Grants Commission(UGC)-National Eligibility Test exam on Friday, the last day of the final and fourth phase examinations, which are conducted to determine the eligibility for the post of assistant professor and Junior Research Fellowship award in Indian universities and colleges. NTA conducts the exam on behalf of the UGC.

    As many students were not able to take the exam, they flooded social media with complaints about their examination centres located in far-flung areas, with many raising the issue that aspirants of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) also faced a similar situation. Many CUET aspirants had to miss the crucial exam for admission to undergraduate courses in universities and colleges due to examination centres being located in far-flung areas and, in some cases, different cities and states.

    A UGC-NET student said that her friend had an exam on October 13, and in the application form, candidates were asked to list four preferred exam centres. 

    “But the allotted exam centre was entirely different from the one on their preference list. Because of that, she wasn’t able to write the exam yesterday. Like her, there are many students,” said the student.

    Another aspirant said that her examination centre was Madurai, despite mentioning four options near her house as she was from Kanyakumari.  “Since Madurai is far from my native place and due to the shortage of time, it’s tough for me to attend the NET exam,” the student said.

    Priya Sahani tweeted that NTA has not allowed the examination centre according to the choices of candidates. “The centre is allotted as far as 300-800 km from their hometowns, and the admit card was only released two days before the exam. Due to this, students were unable to give the exams.”

    Another student said he missed taking the UGC-NET exam for the same reason.

    Joshi said he was awake till 2 am on October 13 trying to sort out various grievances of students. “I was up till 2 am, and I addressed a grievance of a student from Arunachal Pradesh. We tried to help out as many students as possible. But it is difficult for us to address the problems of those who post it on social media. We cannot keep track of social media. Students should write to us.”

    There was controversy about the History exam paper of October 10 as it was alleged that it was leaked. Many students stormed the UGC office on Wednesday after hearing the news.

    The NTA “vehemently” denied allegations of leakage of the History exam and alerted UGC-NET students against such fake tweets and YouTube videos making such claims on social media platforms.

    In a public notice issued the same day, the NTA said it was fake that the history exam paper of the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted on October 10 was leaked.

    INFO IN BRIEF: 

    The NTA conducted the phase 4 exams on October 8,10,11,12,13, and 14 for the December 2021 and June 2022 merged cycles. 

    The phase 1 exam was held on July 9, 11 and 12

    Phase 2 was conducted from Sep 20 to 23

    Phase 3 was conducted on Sep 29, 30 and Oct 1

    Exams were conducted in 500 cities

  • West Bengal state universities not using CUET model for UG course admissions

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: None of the state universities in West Bengal has adopted the Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-UG model for admission to undergraduate courses, authorities said on Sunday.

    Vice Chancellor of Diamond Harbour Women’s University Soma Bandyopadhyay told PTI, “We have conducted the entrance test as directed by the state higher education department. Being a state university. We devise the admission criteria going by the directives of the state higher education department. There is no way we can adopt the CUET method or prepare any new merit list,” she said. 

    The state-run Jadavpur University has already conducted its own entrance tests for UG courses for various departments, Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association spokesperson Partha Pratim Roy said. 

    “No way we can adapt the CUET path for an institution like Jadavpur University which follows rigorous high-level admission procedure. All our disciplines – science, arts and engineering – maintain high academic standards due to this admission process by JU. The uniform CUET route is not applicable for JU,” he said.

    Private St Xavier’s University also held it’s own entrance tests offline this year.

    St Xavier’s University Vice-Chancellor Father Felix Raj said, “We are not going by the CUET route.”

    Officials of Presidency University, Vidyasagar University, Bardhaman University, MAKAUT, North Bengal University, West Bengal University of Technology also said they have adhered to their own admission process as envisaged by the state higher education department.

    There will not be any CUET-UG merit lists or counselling for state varsities, officials said.

    A Visva-Bharati University spokesperson said the Central university, having UG courses in different disciplines, has adopted the CUET route.

    “The CUET eligibility criteria will be followed both for students of Patha Bhavan and Siksha Satra (higher secondary level educational units run by Visva Bharati) and students from outside. But there will be a little bit lowering of cut-off mark for internal students (those having studied here up to 12th level,” the spokesperson said.

    Spokesperson of Presidency University Students Union, Debnil Paul said, “We oppose the attempt to thrust one uniform admission test criteria on all higher educational institutions across the country. This does not take into account the academic autonomy issue of institutions like Presidency.”

    The results of the CUET-UG were declared on September 16 by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

    “The merit lists will be prepared by participating universities who will decide about their individual counselling on the basis of CUET-UG score card,” said Sadhana Parashar, Senior Director (Exams), NTA.

    KOLKATA: None of the state universities in West Bengal has adopted the Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-UG model for admission to undergraduate courses, authorities said on Sunday.

    Vice Chancellor of Diamond Harbour Women’s University Soma Bandyopadhyay told PTI, “We have conducted the entrance test as directed by the state higher education department. Being a state university. We devise the admission criteria going by the directives of the state higher education department. There is no way we can adopt the CUET method or prepare any new merit list,” she said. 

    The state-run Jadavpur University has already conducted its own entrance tests for UG courses for various departments, Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association spokesperson Partha Pratim Roy said. 

    “No way we can adapt the CUET path for an institution like Jadavpur University which follows rigorous high-level admission procedure. All our disciplines – science, arts and engineering – maintain high academic standards due to this admission process by JU. The uniform CUET route is not applicable for JU,” he said.

    Private St Xavier’s University also held it’s own entrance tests offline this year.

    St Xavier’s University Vice-Chancellor Father Felix Raj said, “We are not going by the CUET route.”

    Officials of Presidency University, Vidyasagar University, Bardhaman University, MAKAUT, North Bengal University, West Bengal University of Technology also said they have adhered to their own admission process as envisaged by the state higher education department.

    There will not be any CUET-UG merit lists or counselling for state varsities, officials said.

    A Visva-Bharati University spokesperson said the Central university, having UG courses in different disciplines, has adopted the CUET route.

    “The CUET eligibility criteria will be followed both for students of Patha Bhavan and Siksha Satra (higher secondary level educational units run by Visva Bharati) and students from outside. But there will be a little bit lowering of cut-off mark for internal students (those having studied here up to 12th level,” the spokesperson said.

    Spokesperson of Presidency University Students Union, Debnil Paul said, “We oppose the attempt to thrust one uniform admission test criteria on all higher educational institutions across the country. This does not take into account the academic autonomy issue of institutions like Presidency.”

    The results of the CUET-UG were declared on September 16 by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

    “The merit lists will be prepared by participating universities who will decide about their individual counselling on the basis of CUET-UG score card,” said Sadhana Parashar, Senior Director (Exams), NTA.

  • JNU teachers raise concern over CUET’s effect on university’s autonomy, students’ future

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Several teachers at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) raised concerns over the recently held Common University Entrance Test (CUET), calling it “chaotic, and irresponsible” which entails the erosion of varsity’s autonomy.

    In a press conference, JNU teachers association (JNUTA) representatives alleged that CUET based system is creating insurmountable losses in the field of teaching and learning for current and future generations, besides causing irreparable harm to democratic and participative governance in the university.

    The JNUTA teachers spoke about the extremely adverse impact of the CUET-based system of admissions on JNU’s educational programmes.

    “The existence of the CUET has ensured that no decision about admissions can be taken within the university anymore, thus effectively undoing of Parliament,” JNUTA said. The teachers also said the test also “eviscerate the university acts”.

    “With unsynchronised semesters, students in two intersecting semesters cannot opt for the entire range of courses being offered in the university at the time! For programmes whose curriculum or syllabi crucially relies on the cross-listing of courses, this has proved disastrous,” the JNUTA added.

    Speaking at press conference, Professor Ayesha Kidwai said JNU is a university that caters to poor students — about half of our students are from rural India, hailing from families with incomes less than Rs 12,000 a month, and are women.

    “The delay in admissions in universities participating in the CUET has effectively caused a break in these students’ education. For those students amongst these who would be relying on university fellowships to sustain themselves and their families, the lack of admissions may, in all likelihood, push them out of the education system altogether. With one stroke, the youth dividend, we often take pride in, goes to waste,” Kidwai said.

    “The primary reason why JNU finds itself in such a disastrous situation is the complete collapse of JNU’s statutory bodies, mainly due to the previous administration,” she added.

    NEW DELHI: Several teachers at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) raised concerns over the recently held Common University Entrance Test (CUET), calling it “chaotic, and irresponsible” which entails the erosion of varsity’s autonomy.

    In a press conference, JNU teachers association (JNUTA) representatives alleged that CUET based system is creating insurmountable losses in the field of teaching and learning for current and future generations, besides causing irreparable harm to democratic and participative governance in the university.

    The JNUTA teachers spoke about the extremely adverse impact of the CUET-based system of admissions on JNU’s educational programmes.

    “The existence of the CUET has ensured that no decision about admissions can be taken within the university anymore, thus effectively undoing of Parliament,” JNUTA said. The teachers also said the test also “eviscerate the university acts”.

    “With unsynchronised semesters, students in two intersecting semesters cannot opt for the entire range of courses being offered in the university at the time! For programmes whose curriculum or syllabi crucially relies on the cross-listing of courses, this has proved disastrous,” the JNUTA added.

    Speaking at press conference, Professor Ayesha Kidwai said JNU is a university that caters to poor students — about half of our students are from rural India, hailing from families with incomes less than Rs 12,000 a month, and are women.

    “The delay in admissions in universities participating in the CUET has effectively caused a break in these students’ education. For those students amongst these who would be relying on university fellowships to sustain themselves and their families, the lack of admissions may, in all likelihood, push them out of the education system altogether. With one stroke, the youth dividend, we often take pride in, goes to waste,” Kidwai said.

    “The primary reason why JNU finds itself in such a disastrous situation is the complete collapse of JNU’s statutory bodies, mainly due to the previous administration,” she added.

  • ‘Debut edition of CUET-UG saw 60 per cent attendance’: National Testing Agency

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The debut edition of Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-UG which concluded last Wednesday recorded 60 per cent attendance, according to National Testing Agency (NTA) officials.

    The exam could not be conducted that day at a centre at Radha Govind University in Jharkhand due to slow internet speed affecting 103 candidates, they said Tuesday.

    “The exam will be conducted on a later date for these candidates,” a senior NTA official said.

    According to the initial plan, all phases of the CUET-UG were scheduled to conclude on August 20.

    However, the exam was further deferred and split into six phases to accommodate students whose exam was rescheduled due to several glitches that marred the test.

    From technical glitches to a last-minute change in the exam centres and uninformed changes in exam dates to admit cards mentioning past dates, the students have many of these issues.

    With 14.9 lakh registrations, the CUET, the common gateway for undergraduate admissions in all central universities, is now the second biggest entrance exam in the country, surpassing JEE-Main’s average registration of nine lakh.

    NEET-UG is the biggest entrance test in India with an average of 18 lakh registrations.

    NEW DELHI: The debut edition of Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-UG which concluded last Wednesday recorded 60 per cent attendance, according to National Testing Agency (NTA) officials.

    The exam could not be conducted that day at a centre at Radha Govind University in Jharkhand due to slow internet speed affecting 103 candidates, they said Tuesday.

    “The exam will be conducted on a later date for these candidates,” a senior NTA official said.

    According to the initial plan, all phases of the CUET-UG were scheduled to conclude on August 20.

    However, the exam was further deferred and split into six phases to accommodate students whose exam was rescheduled due to several glitches that marred the test.

    From technical glitches to a last-minute change in the exam centres and uninformed changes in exam dates to admit cards mentioning past dates, the students have many of these issues.

    With 14.9 lakh registrations, the CUET, the common gateway for undergraduate admissions in all central universities, is now the second biggest entrance exam in the country, surpassing JEE-Main’s average registration of nine lakh.

    NEET-UG is the biggest entrance test in India with an average of 18 lakh registrations.

  • Glitch-free CUET on fifth day; another chance for Itanagar students who missed exam due to landslide

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The fifth day of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-UG was glitch free with no issues being reported from 275 exam centres across the country on Monday.

    However, in Arunachal Pradesh’s Itanagar, only three candidates could reach two exam centres at Itanagar due to a landslide.

    In one of the centres, 36 candidates were supposed to appear for the exam while the other had 154 candidates.

    “The test was conducted in 275 centres across the country involving 64,472 registered candidates. The exam went off well in all centres in both morning and evening sessions,” UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar said.

    “However, in two centres of Itanagar, Rajiv Gandhi University and NIT, where 36 and 154 candidates were scheduled to take the test, only 3 candidates could reach the centres due to a very heavy landslide. The examination of those candidates who couldn’t reach these two centres will be held in the period 24-28 August 2022,” he added.

    The second phase of CUET-Undergraduate which began on Thursday was marred with glitches causing trouble to students who were sent back from exam centres.

    On Thursday, the first shift of the exam was cancelled at several centres across 17 states, while the second shift was cancelled at all 489 centres.

    On Friday, the exam was cancelled at 50 centres.

    Anticipating a similar situation on Saturday, the agency cancelled the CUET-UG for the day at 53 centres and sent messages to candidates about its postponement on Friday night.

    Kumar had yesterday said there were “indications of sabotage” and hence the exams were cancelled at various centres.

    “There were reports and indications of sabotage in the process. NTA (National Testing Agency) immediately swung into action and cancelled and postponed examinations in centres which witnessed such a possibility.”

    “Strict action will be taken against anyone involved in wilful sabotage of the process,” he had said.

    The NTA had on Sunday announced that the test which was cancelled last week will now be conducted from August 24 to 28 and fresh admit cards will be issued.

    NEW DELHI: The fifth day of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-UG was glitch free with no issues being reported from 275 exam centres across the country on Monday.

    However, in Arunachal Pradesh’s Itanagar, only three candidates could reach two exam centres at Itanagar due to a landslide.

    In one of the centres, 36 candidates were supposed to appear for the exam while the other had 154 candidates.

    “The test was conducted in 275 centres across the country involving 64,472 registered candidates. The exam went off well in all centres in both morning and evening sessions,” UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar said.

    “However, in two centres of Itanagar, Rajiv Gandhi University and NIT, where 36 and 154 candidates were scheduled to take the test, only 3 candidates could reach the centres due to a very heavy landslide. The examination of those candidates who couldn’t reach these two centres will be held in the period 24-28 August 2022,” he added.

    The second phase of CUET-Undergraduate which began on Thursday was marred with glitches causing trouble to students who were sent back from exam centres.

    On Thursday, the first shift of the exam was cancelled at several centres across 17 states, while the second shift was cancelled at all 489 centres.

    On Friday, the exam was cancelled at 50 centres.

    Anticipating a similar situation on Saturday, the agency cancelled the CUET-UG for the day at 53 centres and sent messages to candidates about its postponement on Friday night.

    Kumar had yesterday said there were “indications of sabotage” and hence the exams were cancelled at various centres.

    “There were reports and indications of sabotage in the process. NTA (National Testing Agency) immediately swung into action and cancelled and postponed examinations in centres which witnessed such a possibility.”

    “Strict action will be taken against anyone involved in wilful sabotage of the process,” he had said.

    The NTA had on Sunday announced that the test which was cancelled last week will now be conducted from August 24 to 28 and fresh admit cards will be issued.

  • ‘CUET cancelled at some centres following alleged sabotage’: UGC chief on ‘glitches’ during exam

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Noting that there were reports and indications of “sabotage” in the conduct of the Common University Entrance Test-Undergraduate, UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar on Sunday said the exam at certain centres was cancelled keeping the best interest of students in mind.

    Kumar said strict action will be taken against anyone involved in “wilful sabotage” of the process.

    “There were reports and indications of sabotage in the process. NTA (National Testing Agency) immediately swung into action and cancelled and postponed examinations in centres which witnessed such a possibility. Strict action will be taken against anyone involved in wilful sabotage of the process,” Kumar said.

    “Cancellation of the test in some centres was done keeping the best interests of the students in mind. NTA is constantly in touch with the students through email, messaging and voice mail to keep them informed of the changes and extra care is being taken in this regard,” he added.

    On reports that some students were turned away from exam venues, the University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman said the staffers at certain centres should have shown more empathy with students.

    “More school teachers are being deployed as they have more experience of dealing with the students with empathy. Due to the efforts and corrective actions taken by NTA, we are hopeful that in the coming days, the CUET-UG will be conducted smoothly,” he said.

    The CUET is being conducted for admission to undergraduate courses in central universities.

    CUET)-UG for candidates, who were affected by cancellations last week owing to technical glitches, will now be conducted from August 24 to 28, according to officials of the National Testing Agency.

    Fresh admit cards will be issued for these candidates, they said.

    “In second phase, the exam scheduled between August 4 to 6 were deferred at few centres due to administrative and technical reasons.

    Earlier, we had announced the exams would be conducted from August 12-14.

    NTA had also given an option to the affected candidates to choose dates other than these dates in case the schedule was not suitable to them,” said Sadhana Parashar, Senior Director, NTA.

    A total of “15,811 candidates requested a date different from 12 to 14 August 2022.

    Similarly, many candidates have approached NTA requesting not to schedule their examination between 12 to 14 August as a series of festivals are falling during this period.

    Also, many candidates had requested for date or city change as the cities allotted to them in Phase II (04 to 06 August 2022) were not suitable to them,” she added.

    The NTA official said that keeping in mind the requests, it was decided that the exam be conducted between August 24 and 28 and fresh admit cards will be issued before the examination date.

    The third phase of the examination on 17, 18, and 20 August, 2022 will be conducted as per schedule informed earlier to the candidates.

    “NTA has also created an exclusive grievance redressal e-mail. The grievances of candidates regarding subject combination, medium, question paper (if any) can be sent to [email protected]. Candidates must mention their Application Number while sending their grievance,” Parashar said.

    The second phase of CUET-UG which began on Thursday, August 4 was marred with glitches causing trouble to students who were sent back from exam centres.

    On Thursday, the first shift of the exam was cancelled at several centres across 17 states, while the second shift was cancelled at all 489 centres.

    On Friday, the exam was cancelled at 50 centres.

    Anticipating the same situation on Saturday, the agency cancelled the CUET-UG for the day at 53 centres and sent messages to candidates about its postponement on Friday night.

    Noting that some centres failed to comply (with the) laid down protocols, the NTA had on Saturday warned that any incidence of non-compliance, sabotage and ignorance will be viewed very seriously and strict action will be taken against those centres to ensure smooth conduct of examinations in future.

    UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar had in March announced that CUET scores will be the basis for admission to 45 central universities which can fix their minimum eligibility criteria.

    With 14.9 lakh registrations, the CUET is now the second-biggest entrance exam in the country, surpassing the JEE-Main’s average registration of nine lakh.

    Apart from central universities, 12 state universities, 11 deemed universities, and 19 private universities have applied to participate in the first edition of CUET-UG for admissions in the academic session 2022-23.

    NEW DELHI: Noting that there were reports and indications of “sabotage” in the conduct of the Common University Entrance Test-Undergraduate, UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar on Sunday said the exam at certain centres was cancelled keeping the best interest of students in mind.

    Kumar said strict action will be taken against anyone involved in “wilful sabotage” of the process.

    “There were reports and indications of sabotage in the process. NTA (National Testing Agency) immediately swung into action and cancelled and postponed examinations in centres which witnessed such a possibility. Strict action will be taken against anyone involved in wilful sabotage of the process,” Kumar said.

    “Cancellation of the test in some centres was done keeping the best interests of the students in mind. NTA is constantly in touch with the students through email, messaging and voice mail to keep them informed of the changes and extra care is being taken in this regard,” he added.

    On reports that some students were turned away from exam venues, the University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman said the staffers at certain centres should have shown more empathy with students.

    “More school teachers are being deployed as they have more experience of dealing with the students with empathy. Due to the efforts and corrective actions taken by NTA, we are hopeful that in the coming days, the CUET-UG will be conducted smoothly,” he said.

    The CUET is being conducted for admission to undergraduate courses in central universities.

    CUET)-UG for candidates, who were affected by cancellations last week owing to technical glitches, will now be conducted from August 24 to 28, according to officials of the National Testing Agency.

    Fresh admit cards will be issued for these candidates, they said.

    “In second phase, the exam scheduled between August 4 to 6 were deferred at few centres due to administrative and technical reasons.

    Earlier, we had announced the exams would be conducted from August 12-14.

    NTA had also given an option to the affected candidates to choose dates other than these dates in case the schedule was not suitable to them,” said Sadhana Parashar, Senior Director, NTA.

    A total of “15,811 candidates requested a date different from 12 to 14 August 2022.

    Similarly, many candidates have approached NTA requesting not to schedule their examination between 12 to 14 August as a series of festivals are falling during this period.

    Also, many candidates had requested for date or city change as the cities allotted to them in Phase II (04 to 06 August 2022) were not suitable to them,” she added.

    The NTA official said that keeping in mind the requests, it was decided that the exam be conducted between August 24 and 28 and fresh admit cards will be issued before the examination date.

    The third phase of the examination on 17, 18, and 20 August, 2022 will be conducted as per schedule informed earlier to the candidates.

    “NTA has also created an exclusive grievance redressal e-mail. The grievances of candidates regarding subject combination, medium, question paper (if any) can be sent to [email protected]. Candidates must mention their Application Number while sending their grievance,” Parashar said.

    The second phase of CUET-UG which began on Thursday, August 4 was marred with glitches causing trouble to students who were sent back from exam centres.

    On Thursday, the first shift of the exam was cancelled at several centres across 17 states, while the second shift was cancelled at all 489 centres.

    On Friday, the exam was cancelled at 50 centres.

    Anticipating the same situation on Saturday, the agency cancelled the CUET-UG for the day at 53 centres and sent messages to candidates about its postponement on Friday night.

    Noting that some centres failed to comply (with the) laid down protocols, the NTA had on Saturday warned that any incidence of non-compliance, sabotage and ignorance will be viewed very seriously and strict action will be taken against those centres to ensure smooth conduct of examinations in future.

    UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar had in March announced that CUET scores will be the basis for admission to 45 central universities which can fix their minimum eligibility criteria.

    With 14.9 lakh registrations, the CUET is now the second-biggest entrance exam in the country, surpassing the JEE-Main’s average registration of nine lakh.

    Apart from central universities, 12 state universities, 11 deemed universities, and 19 private universities have applied to participate in the first edition of CUET-UG for admissions in the academic session 2022-23.

  • Second chance for those who missed CUET UG in July

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Candidates who missed the Central University Entrance Test undergraduate (CUET UG) exam in the first phase in July due to last-minute change of centres and cancellations, will get another chance in the second phase beginning August 4, officials said on Tuesday.

    The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the entrance examination, on Tuesday released admit cards for students appearing for the examination on August 4, 5 and 6 on Tuesday. Admit cards for the examinations to be held after August 6 will be issued later.

    The testing agency also announced that exams for candidates affected by the flood and having other entrance and competitive examinations during this period had been shifted to August 12, 13 and 14 from August 4, 5 and 6, following various representations Technical problems in the first phase marred the first-ever CUET.

    Exams were cancelled in two centres, one in West Bengal’s New Jalpaiguri and other Punjab’s Pathankot – owing to technical issues. NTA said 19 students who missed the exams in these two centres can now take them. Registered candidates can download their admit cards from the official website cuet.samarth.ac.in by logging in through their registered credentials.

    NEW DELHI: Candidates who missed the Central University Entrance Test undergraduate (CUET UG) exam in the first phase in July due to last-minute change of centres and cancellations, will get another chance in the second phase beginning August 4, officials said on Tuesday.

    The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the entrance examination, on Tuesday released admit cards for students appearing for the examination on August 4, 5 and 6 on Tuesday. Admit cards for the examinations to be held after August 6 will be issued later.

    The testing agency also announced that exams for candidates affected by the flood and having other entrance and competitive examinations during this period had been shifted to August 12, 13 and 14 from August 4, 5 and 6, following various representations Technical problems in the first phase marred the first-ever CUET.

    Exams were cancelled in two centres, one in West Bengal’s New Jalpaiguri and other Punjab’s Pathankot – owing to technical issues. NTA said 19 students who missed the exams in these two centres can now take them. Registered candidates can download their admit cards from the official website cuet.samarth.ac.in by logging in through their registered credentials.

  • CUET Phase 2 exams from Aug 4: Admit cards issued, second chance for those who missed in July

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Candidates who missed the CUET exam in the first phase in July due to a last-minute change of centre and cancellation will get another chance in the second phase, beginning August 4, officials said Tuesday.

    The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Tuesday also released admit cards for students appearing for exams on August 4, 5 and 6, two days before the second phase of the Central University Entrance Test undergraduate (CUET UG) will begin.

    The admit cards for the examinations to be held after August 6 will be issued later.

    The testing agency also announced that exams for candidates affected by floods and having other entrance and competitive examinations during this period had been shifted to August 12, 13 and 14 from August 4, 5 and 6, 2022, following various representations.

    Technical problems in the first phase marred the first-ever CUET. Exams were cancelled in two centres, one in West Bengal’s New Jalpaiguri and the other Punjab’s Pathankot.

    NTA said the 190 students who could not take the exams in these two centres can now take them. Many students complained that their exam centres were changed at the last minute, resulting in many missing it. NTA later formed a committee investigating these complaints and have now allowed 19 students to retake the exam.

    “Every effort is being made to provide candidates with their first choice of city. However, due to an insufficient number of registered candidates in a town or an inadequate number of secure nodes, a different city may have been allotted in some cases. This is being done as per the policy of the NTA,” NTA said.

    ALSO READ | Easy process, tough path, teething issues? CUET questions continue to bother aspirants

    However, such candidates have been given a choice to either avail the examination facility at a different city allotted now or exercise the option to appear in the earlier town at a later date, i.e., after August 10.

    These candidates are requested to exercise this option before downloading their admit cards, and their examinations will be scheduled after August 10.  This option can be seen on the official website of CUET (UG) for downloading the admit card.

    A few representations were also received from the candidates who had other entrance and competitive examinations during this period or who had been affected by floods, etc. “Such requests have been considered, and their city/date has been changed,” the testing agency said.

    Like in the first phase, the admit card was released two days before the exam.

    The Phase I exams were conducted on July 15, 16, 19 and 20, and the second phase exams are slated for August 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 20.

    According to the University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman, Professor M Jagadish Kumar, of the 2,50,495 candidates allotted slots in CUET 2022 phase one, 1,91,586 appeared in the exam. He said phase 1 saw 76.48 per cent attendance, while as many as 58,909 candidates missed it.

    Kumar had earlier informed that nearly 8 lakh 10 thousand students would appear in phase 1 and 6 lakh 80 thousand students will do so in phase 2 of the all-India-level exam for admission to various UG courses in 44 central and 46 other universities in India.

    (Download admit forms from the official website cuet.samarth.ac.in)

    NEW DELHI: Candidates who missed the CUET exam in the first phase in July due to a last-minute change of centre and cancellation will get another chance in the second phase, beginning August 4, officials said Tuesday.

    The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Tuesday also released admit cards for students appearing for exams on August 4, 5 and 6, two days before the second phase of the Central University Entrance Test undergraduate (CUET UG) will begin.

    The admit cards for the examinations to be held after August 6 will be issued later.

    The testing agency also announced that exams for candidates affected by floods and having other entrance and competitive examinations during this period had been shifted to August 12, 13 and 14 from August 4, 5 and 6, 2022, following various representations.

    Technical problems in the first phase marred the first-ever CUET. Exams were cancelled in two centres, one in West Bengal’s New Jalpaiguri and the other Punjab’s Pathankot.

    NTA said the 190 students who could not take the exams in these two centres can now take them. Many students complained that their exam centres were changed at the last minute, resulting in many missing it. NTA later formed a committee investigating these complaints and have now allowed 19 students to retake the exam.

    “Every effort is being made to provide candidates with their first choice of city. However, due to an insufficient number of registered candidates in a town or an inadequate number of secure nodes, a different city may have been allotted in some cases. This is being done as per the policy of the NTA,” NTA said.

    ALSO READ | Easy process, tough path, teething issues? CUET questions continue to bother aspirants

    However, such candidates have been given a choice to either avail the examination facility at a different city allotted now or exercise the option to appear in the earlier town at a later date, i.e., after August 10.

    These candidates are requested to exercise this option before downloading their admit cards, and their examinations will be scheduled after August 10.  This option can be seen on the official website of CUET (UG) for downloading the admit card.

    A few representations were also received from the candidates who had other entrance and competitive examinations during this period or who had been affected by floods, etc. “Such requests have been considered, and their city/date has been changed,” the testing agency said.

    Like in the first phase, the admit card was released two days before the exam.

    The Phase I exams were conducted on July 15, 16, 19 and 20, and the second phase exams are slated for August 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 20.

    According to the University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman, Professor M Jagadish Kumar, of the 2,50,495 candidates allotted slots in CUET 2022 phase one, 1,91,586 appeared in the exam. He said phase 1 saw 76.48 per cent attendance, while as many as 58,909 candidates missed it.

    Kumar had earlier informed that nearly 8 lakh 10 thousand students would appear in phase 1 and 6 lakh 80 thousand students will do so in phase 2 of the all-India-level exam for admission to various UG courses in 44 central and 46 other universities in India.

    (Download admit forms from the official website cuet.samarth.ac.in)

  • Those who missed CUET due to exam centre change to get another chance: NTA officials

    Before the exam, several aspirants have raised concerns over having to give too many exams in a short period, delay in admit cards and not being given the choice of centre.