Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has announced that it will accept the National Eligibility Test (NET) score instead of the entrance test conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) as the selection parameter for admission to its Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programs from the current academic year.
UGC to help the students with one national entrance test as part of the implementation of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, has decided vide its Public Notice dated March 27, 2024, that score of National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by UGC and CSIR can be used by the Universities/HEIs for Ph.D Admission in place of entrance test, read the notice released by JNU on Saturday.
Following this directive, JNU has opted to use the NET scores for PhD admissions, effectively replacing the entrance test previously conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
"Accordingly, JNU has decided to use NET score in place of the entrance test conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA) for admission to Ph.D Programmes in the University from the academic session 2024-25," the notice added.
Recently, after a protest by the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) at the University Grants Commission (UGC) Headquarters, the Joint Secretary of UGC met the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) office bearers.
The JNUSU pointed out that the arbitrary decision to replace PhD Entrance Exams with NET scores will further alienate a lot of students, especially those from marginalised sections, from research and the gates of universities will close for many.
The JNUSU pointed out that the arbitrary decision to replace PhD Entrance Exams with NET scores will further alienate a lot of students, especially those from marginalised sections, from research and the gates of universities will close for many.
The UGC Joint Secretary had responded that they would be holding an internal meeting on these points. It was also communicated that universities have the autonomy to conduct their entrance exams.
The JNUSU will be meeting the Director of Admissions on April 29, to demand that the PhD entrance exam for this year and henceforth be done through JNUEE.