The new directive of University Grants Commission (UGC) approves National Eligibility Test (NET) scores for PhD admissions to all universities starting academic session 2024-25. The directive will be helpful to students who had to earlier appear for multiple entrance exams conducted by various universities for PhD admissions. The NET scores will decide admissions to PhD and the eligibility of a candidate for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and appointment as an assistant professor.
The directive will help streamline the admission process under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and eliminate the pressure and hassle of multiple exams. Talking to Education Times, Professor Manish Ratnakar Joshi, secretary, UGC, says, The step has been taken to save students from the trouble of taking multiple entrance exams. It is an enabling provision and not a rule that universities need to mandatorily abide by. If a university wants to adopt NET scores as the admission criteria, then it must create a merit list according to the NET results. However, universities still can continue to conduct the entrance exams and there. will be no changes.
The sities conduct entrance exams once a year, while NET is held twice a year (in June and December). Following the new directive will give an extra opportunity to the candidates. The new provision has been introduced to overcome the shortcomings of the existing system of the PhD admission. This provision will also save the students from paying exam fees at various universities. Usually, the university entrance exams are held only once a year, adds Joshi. The NET result will be declared in percentile, along with the marks obtained by a candidate so that the university can decide as per their admission
Amruth G Kumar, professor and dean, School of Education, Central University of Kerala, says, "The provision will not facilitate faster admissions because most universities have their own procedures. UGC conducts the NET exam twice a year, but universities open for admissions only once. Ноwever, students can take the exam twice to improve their NET scores. The provision will apply to all the CUs by default. However, it is a discretionary provision and has not been mandated by the UGC."
published on 01/04/2024
Education Times
