No hurry to merge with JEE, NEET: UGC Chief over technical glitches in CUET
Premium- The UGC chief noted that the issues faced in the conduct of the test will be ironed out soon and the exam will be conducted twice a year
UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar said that the technical glitches encountered in the initial phases of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) will not affect expansion plans for the crucial exam which includes a proposal to merge it with JEE and NEET. The UGC chief noted that the issues faced in the conduct of the test will be ironed out soon and the exam will be conducted twice a year.
UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar told news agency PTI, “the technical glitches in initial phases of CUET-UG are not setbacks but lessons. They will be ironed out in the near future and will in no way deter scaling up or expansion plans for the crucial exam." Kumar had earlier said that in future the engineering entrance exam JEE and medical entrance exam NEET will also be merged with CUET.
"As per the NEP, the plan is to have a common entrance exam to reduce the burden on students of appearing in multiple entrances. However, we won't hurry up to introduce it as we need to plan well. It is a massive exercise and our focus is on planning and taking forward from the lessons we have learnt while conducting CUET," he said.
When asked about the merger, the UGC cheif said the modalities are yet to be worked out. “An expert committee will be set up by end of this month. It will study all important entrance exams being conducted in the country as well as abroad. If we have to introduce the exam next year, the preparation has to start now considering the massive exercise and the different disciplines involved. There also has to be a consensus among stakeholders and the two main issues we need to address is the syllabus as well as the difficulty level as each discipline has its own peculiarities."
The debut edition of CUET-UG began in July and has been marred with glitches prompting the National Testing Agency (NTA) to cancel exams at multiple centres. While several students were informed about cancellation a night before the exam, many of them were turned away from centres citing cancellations. Kumar had said the exam at certain centres have been cancelled following reports of "sabotage." The fourth phase of the CUET-UG is set to begin on Wednesday.
(With inputs from PTI)
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