Summary
M Jagadesh Kumar informed at a press briefing that the CUET is likely to be conducted in the first week of July
This means that apart from the eligibility criterion of different universities, Class XII board examination marks will not have any bearing on admission of students
All central universities will have to use Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores to admit students to undergraduate programmes this year, University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman M Jagadesh Kumar has said.
At a press briefing on March 21, Kumar informed, “From the 2022-23 academic year, the National Testing Agency will be conducting the CUET for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. All the central universities will have to consider CUET scores for admissions to their programmes.”
This means that apart from the eligibility criterion of different universities, Class XII board examination marks will not have any bearing on the admission of the students. The CUET, in all likelihood, will be conducted in the first week of July, Kumar added.
There are 45 central universities funded by the UGC. According to Kumar, the CUET syllabus will be mirrored with the Class XII model syllabus of the NCERT. The CUET will have section 1A, section 1B, general test and domain-specific subjects. Section 1A, which will be compulsory, will be in 13 languages and candidates can choose the language of their choice.
The options are English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. Section 1B is optional and for students who want to opt for another language apart from the ones that are a part of section 1A. Some of the languages on offer are French, Arabic, and German among others, Kumar added.
Under the domain-specific subjects, a candidate can choose up to a maximum of six domains that they wish to pursue at the undergraduate level, Kumar said. There are some universities that have a general test as eligibility criteria for admission to even domain-specific courses so that is a part of the CUET, he added.
The UGC chairman said the reservation policy of the universities will not be impacted due to the CUET. “The universities can enroll candidates for the general seats as well as for the reserved seats on the basis of CUET scores. It will not impact the existing admission and reservation policy that are in accordance with the Ordinances of the varsity.”.
Central universities like Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) reserve half of their seats for the minority students. Both the universities are yet to take a call on CUET. According to an AMU official, they will take a call on the CUET once they receive any communication from the UGC.
Kumar also said foreign students will continue to be admitted as per the existing practice the universities have on a supernumerary basis. The universities will be allowed to conduct practical and interviews for courses like music, fine arts, theatre, along with CUET.
He also said there would not be any centralised counselling after CUET this year. The universities will have their own counselling.
The CUET will be held in two shifts. In the first shift, candidates will be able to write one language, two domain-specific papers and the general test. In the second shift, candidates can write the remaining four domain-specific subjects and section 1B, Kumar said.
Talking about the benefits of CUET, he said it will provide equal opportunities to students from across boards, especially to those from the northeast and rural areas. The CUET is also expected to reduce the financial burden on parents and students as candidates will only have to write one exam.
Delhi University and some other universities have already announced that they will only admit students to undergraduate courses on the basis of CUET.
The NTA will soon release the detailed guidelines regarding CUET and the UGC will issue a public notice on March 22, Kumar said.
Last updated on 22 Mar 2022
