New Delhi [India]: Jawaharlal Nehru University is mulling abandoning the UGC NET exam for admission to PhD programmes and revert to the in-house entrance, following the cancellation of the NTA-conducted exam due to integrity concerns.
The administration has asked all deans, chairpersons of special centres, and chairpersons of the center of the School of Studies to give their consent to hold the in-house Ph. D. Entrance Examination, as per an email sent to the faculty.
They have been requested to submit their response by August 5, the email, assessed by media, mentions.
Vice Chancellor Santishree D Pandit held a meeting on July 3 (fortnite after the Centre cancelled the UGC NET exam) with the deans and discussed the issues raised by various Schools and Centres regarding holding of JNU Entrance Examination for Ph. D. programme for the academic year 2025-2026
“We have begun the process and we are taking into account the opinion of all the stakeholders while considering this decision. It is a decision of all the faculty,” JNU’s Vice Chancellor Santishree D Pandit told ANI over the phone.
The email sent to faculty following the meeting also mentioned that the University would not get any fund from the University Grants Commission and Ministry of Education holding the All India Entrance Examination for Ph. D. programmes
“The University will have to make its own financial arrangements for holding All India Entrance Examination for PhD programmes,” the mail noted.
The administration has asked for a consolidated report by August 5 from all the deans, the chairperson of special centre, chairperson of of centre of the school of Studies after discussing the issue with all the faculty members in their respective Schools/Centres
The administration have asked them to “submit the overall process of holding examination including the time frame, the pattern of examinations ie. subjective/objective or CBT, or through JRF/NET Score, financial aspect in terms of Ph. D. application fees, Intake of seats and estimated financial liabilities for holding All India Entrance Examination, etc”
In a statement, the JNU Teachers Association said it considers a positive response to the specific demand raised by it after the cancellation of the June 2024 UGC-NET Examination.
Over the last year, teachers and students highlighted the problems with the NTA-led examination. Students and teachers have been demanding that the university reassume the responsibility of conducting the entrance examination.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) had been conducting the examination for several years. Candidates seeking admission into PhD programmes had to appear in the Computer Based Test.
This year, JNU announces a change in its selection process for admission to its Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programmes.
Starting from the current academic year, JNU said it will accept the National Eligibility Test (NET) score instead of conducting its own entrance test, in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
On June 19, the Centre cancelled the exam crucial for entry-level teaching jobs and PhD admissions in universities, following inputs from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that “the integrity of the examination may have been compromised”.
In the statement, JNUTA said: “It welcomes the decisions taken in the meeting of the Vice Chancellor and Deans of Schools on 3 July 2024, as well as to refer the matter to the faculty of Schools/Centres for their opinions.”
“JNUTA considers this to be a vindication of its long-standing position on the matter of entrance examinations, as well as a positive response to the specific demands raised by it after the cancellation of the June 2024 UGC-NET Examination,” said the JNUTA.