CUET mandate guarantees cautious implementation

When the University Grants Commission, or UGC (which looks after the ‘coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of university education in India’) has caught central universities inadvertently, it is mandatory for them to admit their undergraduate students from this year. done. Programs on the basis of marks and merit in Central University Entrance Test (CUET) only. They have very little time to lose if they want to save their academic session. The National Testing Agency (NTA) of the Ministry of Higher Education, which has the responsibility of conducting the entrance test for all central universities for the academic session 2022-23, has announced the details of the examination. The registration started on April 2 and the application window will end on April 30. The trial is scheduled for mid-July.

Some central universities appear ready to guide the prospective students about some essential details that they require while registering for the exam. Students should know which language to choose. Since they can appear in maximum six out of 27 domain knowledge subjects, they must know what subjects will be required by the university for admission to various courses. Universities with a large number of undergraduate programs need to take a cautious and careful call in this regard.

no ice cut

Clearly the central universities have no option but to abide by the mandate. It has been denied to some who have dared to get an exemption. The idea of ​​academic autonomy and the argument that formality, uniformity and standardization often reduce quality to the lowest common denominator are unlikely to be affected. Bets have been placed against him.

Institutes of National Importance (INI), i.e. Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Information Technology, National Institute of Technology and Indian Institute of Management already admit students on the basis of a common entrance test. Either exclusively or in combination with previous academic record. The Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (autonomous institutions under the Ministry of Education) are perhaps the only exceptions to follow a holistic approach. Since a significant proportion of INIs are ranked higher in national and world rankings than central universities, one is unlikely to notice that CUET will lower their standards and quality.

Despite reservations by some states, notably Tamil Nadu, and many self-financing private and minority medical colleges, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Graduation), or NEET, has become mandatory for admission to all types and types of medical programs. . institutions across the country. In addition, 12 central universities are admitting students on the basis of a single entrance test. Eight deemed universities have already agreed to adhere to CUET scores and it is likely that the rest will also line up, as they are directly regulated by the UGC.

The argument that entrance exams undermine the importance of board exams and distract students from their studies in schools was long ago bid farewell to central universities. Most admit students on the basis of their own entrance exam, often program by program. CUET may be in favor of students as it can enhance their academic choice and save them the cost, hassle and inconvenience of attempting many different tests, although they may realize later that the Central Board of Secondary Education -based examination can be a huge loss to a huge number of students from the state boards.

Concerns about the quality of tests arising because of the autonomy, capability, reliability and expertise of the NTA (which were so well pointed out in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020) also cannot get many takers because only Only a few central universities will be able to show the validity, credibility and consistency of their own entrance examinations. The NTA has faltered in maintaining rigor, resulting in leaked national-level tests, but even universities may not be able to prove that they have a foolproof system to design and conduct their own penetration tests. Very successful in keeping.

The only big central university which is giving admission to students on the basis of board marks till now has faced its own trouble. It has been criticized for fixing cutoffs at such absurd levels that even the century achievers were unsure about joining their first choice of college or course.

respect for autonomy

This is not to argue that CUET is the best approach. World-class universities and the countries in which they are located do not insist on admitting students to a quantitative score on a common test alone. Instead, while respecting the idea of ​​academic autonomy, they give their faculty the freedom to develop overall criteria for admission.

The NEP 2020 had also emphasized the need for a ‘common principle for entrance examinations’ while stressing that this should be done ‘keeping in view the diversity and autonomy of the university’. Further, the policy mentions without any uncertainty that ‘it will be left to individual universities and colleges to use NTA assessment for their admissions’.

Since the world has not yet invented a single best method to do anything, there is a need to develop the best possible method through discussion, deliberation and consultation with stakeholders. It certainly would have been better, and in good taste, the UGC has taken the universities into confidence and given their concerns due consideration.

Centrally funded technical educational institutions, central universities and deemed universities, account for only 5.08% of the enrollment in higher education. The rest, 94.92%, are in self-financed state private and public funded state universities and their colleges.

As the UGC is contemplating making CUET mandatory for admission to all higher educational institutions across the country, it must realize that the concerns, compulsions, concerns and realities of the state sector may be very different. Furthermore, higher education being in the concurrent list, and thus, the joint responsibility of the central and state governments, warrants that the states be taken into confidence before subjecting their institutions to a single entrance test.

Finally, regulatory reforms, especially the setting up of the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), as prescribed by NEP 2020, need to be accelerated, as there is an in-built advisory mechanism in the form of the General Education Council. GEC), for speedy and discreet implementation of the NEP.

Furqan Qamar is a former Advisor (Education) in the Planning Commission. Views expressed are personal