The University Grants Commission (UGC) would conduct a Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for admissions into all central universities and affiliated colleges for the academic year 2022-23. UGC announced the decision on Monday.
Further, performance in board exams will carry no weightage while applying for Undergraduate (UG) programs. However, universities will have the freedom to set minimum eligibility based on board exam scores.
The CUET will be a computer test based on NCERT’s Class 12 Syllabus, conducted every year during the first week of July.
The test will have three sections: 1. A compulsory language test. Students can take the test in any of the listed 13 regional languages. 2. A domain test. It will have 27 options, and a candidate can appear in a maximum of 6 domain-specific tests. 3. An optional aptitude and language test in 19 different languages (including foreign languages like German, French, Russian, Japanese, and Santhali) if a student aspires to pursue an Undergraduate degree in them.
As per UGC, the Common University Entrance Test will be broad-based and open for the state, deemed, private universities to join.
Chairperson of UGC, M. Jagadish Kumar, said, “It is not a new thing. For example, all IIT admissions use JEE scores primarily because of the diversity of the boards and different kinds of evaluation systems. The same is true with the university admissions, so we are giving one standard NCERT syllabus so that everybody can prepare and have a common reference ground.”
According to Kumar, it will create equal opportunities for students from all different boards and regions–even rural and remote and rural parts of the country. It will also save money on applying for multiple examples to get into various universities.
The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) is a step that would bring uniformity in admission to Under Graduate courses also a possible debate. Who would train the students for the CUET exams?
Schools or Private Coaching centers? What initiative the Government is going to take to make these Common Entrance Exams, be it JEE, NEET, or CUET, easily accessible and affordable for underprivileged students from even the remotest corner of the country? We are yet to hear a solution for this.