The existing reservation policies of the institutes will not be affected, UGC chairperson has told the varsities. Source: Twitter
Eight deemed-to-be universities, including the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and Jamia Hamdard University, have expressed a desire to use Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores to admit students to undergraduate courses, University Grants Commission (UGC) chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said on March 28.
Kumar on March 28 held a meeting with vice-chancellors and directors of these eight deemed universities which receive maintenance grants from UGC.
Besides the TISS in Mumbai, and Jamia Hamdard in New Delhi, the other six varsities that have expressed the desire to consider CUET scores for admissions are Gandhigram Rural Institute, Gandhigram; Dindigul Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra; Gurukul Kangri, Haridwar; Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad; Avinashilingam Institute of Home Sciences, Coimbatore, and Ramakrishna Vivekananda Educational Research Institute, Kolkata.
"They (representatives of the deemed universities) have also given some useful suggestions. This is an opportunity for all universities to adopt CUET and relieve the students from the stress of getting either very high Class-XII board scores or writing multiple entrance tests," said Kumar.
CUET scores will be mandatory for admission to 45 central universities for undergraduate programmes, Kumar had said last week.
On March 27, he also wrote to vice-chancellors of other universities to use CUET scores for admission to undergraduate programmes. The application window for CUET will open on April 2 and close on April 30.
"I explained to them the salient features of Common University Entrance Test and how it would be beneficial to the students,” the UGC chief said.
“I made it clear to them that the existing reservation policies of the institutes will not be affected and they can continue to admit students in undergraduate programmes as per the existing reservation policies except that the admission has to be based on CUET score and not based on Class XII board marks," he added.