Admission to undergraduate courses in central universities will get delayed as the National Testing Agency has deferred the announcement of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) results.

Several academics have lamented the "imposition" of the NTA on the central varsities, which previously used to conduct their own examinations or admit students based on Class XII marks.

Delhi University (DU) on Tuesday released its calendar for the academic session 2024-25 for the third- and fifth-semester undergraduate programme. It is yet to release the calendar for the first semester.

On May 28, DU registrar Vikas Gupta had announced that the admission procedure would be based on the CUET scores.

Gupta said: “Classes are expected to start from July 20 or maximum by August 1.”

However, none of the central universities knows when they will be able to start their classes.

The NTA has said it has received public grievances regarding the CUET-UG. If the grievances are genuine, “the NTA is committed to redoing the exam for these candidates at selected centres any day between July 15 and 19”, the NTA said on Monday.

Abha Dev Habib, a professor at Miranda House and a former member of DU’s executive council, said the universities enhance their reputation by holding their admission and that, too, on time.

Since 2022, the institutions decided to admit students based on the CUET scores, under pressure from the education ministry. Since then, the admission and examination schedules have been disrupted.

“In DU, we are going to have a staggered academic calendar. When we conduct the examinations of third- and fifth-semester students, the classes of the first semester will be going on. When the first-semester students take the exam, the classes of other semesters will be going on. This will affect the calendar and create instability in academic affairs,” Habib said.

She added that private universities have already admitted students. Several students who aspired to study in DU had to take admission to private universities.

“The government forced the central universities to admit students through CUET scores. Now, the CUET is regularly delayed. In this process, the private universities are benefitting,” she said.

The Indian National Teachers’ Congress (Intec) said the final results of CUET may not be declared before the first week of August if the retest is done for aggrieved candidates. After the results, students who have already applied for UG admissions in DU would be asked to fill up a form with their college and course preferences.

“First-year classes are not going to start before October 1. Due to the overlapping of the teaching/examination calendar of different semesters, it will compound the confusion and will make lives difficult for both students and faculty members of Delhi University,” said Intec chairman Pankaj Garg.

Maya John, a member of the academic council of DU, said the varsity had lost its charm. The disruption in the academic calendar would play havoc with DU teachers’ research plans, fieldwork, and enrollment in faculty development programmes required for promotions and other prior engagements.

A vice-chancellor of a central university said the institutions had no choice since the government wants them to admit students based on CUET results. “There were a lot of issues with marks-based admission. The government came up with CUET. The central universities can no longer follow their own path,” he said.