Students oppose common entrance test proposed for central varsities

They have written to DU vice-chancellor P.C. Joshi against any shift from marks-based selection to entrance exams

Delhi University (DU): File picture

Basant Kumar Mohanty   |   TT  |   New Delhi   |  19.06.21:  Many students wanting to take up undergraduate courses at Delhi University (DU) are against the common entrance exams proposed for central varsities as their schools could not cover the entire Class XII syllabus owing to the pandemic and the delay in announcement of the test has affected their preparations.

The students have written to DU vice-chancellor P.C. Joshi against any shift from marks-based selection to entrance exams.

The education ministry is considering the report of a committee of the University Grants Commission proposing the conduct of two sets of Central Universities Common Entrance Test (CUCET) for undergraduate and postgraduate admission.

Two ministry officials have told this newspaper the entrance tests are likely to be held in August or September. For undergraduate admission, the committee has recommended equal weightage to board exam score and the CUCET. However, the government may not consider the board score this year because of the shadow the pandemic has cast on these exams and all the 40-odd central universities might select students on the basis of only the CUCET, sources said.

A student from Rajasthan, who did not wish to be named, said the state school board had reduced this session’s Class XII syllabus by 40 per cent because of Covid. He said students were not comfortable with a common entrance test as questions could be set on the entire syllabus. Most boards have curtailed syllabus this year and it would be difficult to arrive at common ground for the entrance exam.

There is no official word yet on the nitty-gritty of the common entrance test.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had relaxed 30 per cent of the syllabus before finally cancelling the board exams.

“Entrance tests like the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main for engineering courses did not relax the syllabus even though all boards had reduced their syllabus by 30 to 40 per cent. The CUCET will possibly follow the same pattern and ask students to prepare for questions from the entire syllabus. This would not have been a problem had we been informed well in advance that a common entrance test would indeed be held,” the student said.

Vikash Shrivash, who aspires to get into a college affiliated to DU, said over phone from Madhya Pradesh that time for preparations was not adequate.

“If any change is to be made to the admission procedure, the students should have been informed in advance. Till today, the central universities have not announced the admission process. It will be unfair if they suddenly announce the CUCET and ask students to take the exam in a month,” he said.

Shrivash wants to pursue physics in a DU college. He said DU and other universities allowed students flexibility in choosing streams but it was not clear whether this would be possible this year.

“The universities allow students who pursued science in Class XII to take up humanities in the undergraduate stage. If a student has to appear for an entrance exam in the subject he or she wants to pursue, such short notice won’t be enough to prepare, especially if he or she did not study the subject extensively in his stream in school,” he said.

Shrivash said the central universities should continue with marks-based selection this year.Rajesh Jha, assistant professor and former Executive Council member of DU, said poor and rural students usually did not perform well in competitive exams because of lack of access to coaching. This year they are more disadvantaged because of the pandemic, he said.

“If a common admission exam is to be held, the issue should be discussed in the academic bodies of universities. Till date, no academic body has held such a discussion. The imposition of such a policy will not be healthy,” he said.

Jha has written to the DU vice-chancellor expressing concern over the proposed common admission test.

A student who did not want to be identified, however, supported the CUCET. He said the board marks this year would not be credible.

“The boards will declare results based on school-based assessment. There will be discrepancies among boards. That way, a common entrance test is a better way to select students,” he said.

DU has over 60 colleges with 1.7 lakh undergraduate seats. Admission to most of the seats is usually on the basis of board marks.The Telegraph sent an email to VC Joshi asking about the concerns raised by students but did not receive a response.