Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) intends to resume its own entrance exam for admission to PhD courses rather than rely on the National Testing Agency (NTA), whose credibility has taken a hit against the backdrop of paper leaks.
JNU vice-chancellor Santishree D. Pandit convened a meeting on July 3 with the deans of schools and chairpersons of the various centres of studies to address the
issue. In 2019, the university entrusted the NTA with conducting its PhD entrance
examinations.
Earlier this year, the University Grants Commission (UGC) mandated that universities consider the National Eligibility Test (NET) scores for PhD admissions. In April, JNU decided to admit PhD students based on the NET merit list. Following the NET paper leak last month, resulting in its cancellation, JNU has decided to reconsider its approach.
The UGC gets the NTA to conduct the NET to select candidates for the post of assistant professor in colleges and universities. The top scorers are directly eligible for the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF). The JRF awardees are not required to appear for the PhD entrance of any university. They take the interview straightaway.
Last week, JNU’s admission branch proposed before the deans and chairpersons that the university conduct its own PhD entrance exams from the 2025-26 academic year. This would require the university to self-fund the exercise without financial support from the UGC or the education ministry.
The letter said: “In this connection, all deans/ chairpersons of special centres/ chairpersons of centres of the school of studies are requested to give their consent to hold PhD entrance examination after discussing the issue with all the faculty members in their respective school/ centres and submit the overall process of holding examination, including the time frame, pattern of examination i.e. subjective/ objective or computer-based test or through JRF/ NET score, financial aspect in terms of PhD application fees, intake of seats and estimated financial liabilities for holding all-India entrance examination so that consolidated report may be submitted to the authorities concerned for its consideration.”
The JNU teachers’ association has consistently opposed entrusting the entrance tests to the NTA. In response to the recent fiasco over exams conducted by the NTA, it suggested that JNU reclaim control over its PhD admissions immediately, starting from the 2024-25 session. It argued that the disruption caused by the cancellation of the June 2024 UGC-NET had underscored the urgency of the shift.
“There is no reason to wait for the 2025-26 admission cycle to revive the university’s own entrance examinations — the cancellation of the June 2024 UGC-NET examination has already disrupted the academic schedule for 2024-25. As a university, we should sever all links with NTA and immediately take responsibility for holding its own PhD entrance examinations for this year’s admissions as well,” a teachers’ association statement said.
It said the university should immediately apply the same logic and ensure that both the undergraduate and postgraduate entrance exams for 2025-26 are also held by JNU itself.
“Leaving the conduct of undergraduate and postgraduate admissions to a highly centralised and compromised body such as the NTA will only further damage the academic reputation and autonomy of the university,” it said.
